Justice League: Shadow in the Mind
by Eternal Headache
Summary: Batman begins to change and the JL must help him or take him down. Update: Part 10 NOT ABANDONED, BUT ON HIATUS: April 30: Please see my profile for new information.
1. Default Chapter

Kay, it must be my word program that ffnet doesn't like. Stupid word program. So I'll just put big spacing between the sections and see if that does it. And oh yeah, forgot the disclaimer: Batman and all thing JLA/U do not belong to me, they belong to their creators and DC comics. There. Enjoy!

Justice League: Shadow in the Mind

The night was dark and cold. But for the creature that stalked the inky black streets and alleys, the conditions were perfect. Cold darkness best inspired fear. And fear was what the creature craved most. And death. Before the night was over, it would have both.

END SCENE

The alley was marked off by yellow police tape, hiding the horror that lay in the darkness beyond. Barricades kept the morbidly curious back, allowing the police to do their jobs. Nobody, as usual, was watching the rooftops and so nobody saw the dark shadow land silently to investigate the scene below. When the crowd began getting rowdy enough that it drew the attention away from the body, the shadow took advantage and dropped down for a closer look. It was as he had feared. The woman's throat had been torn out, all the blood drained from her body. The only trace of the life source left was the small amount that clung to her fear frozen, white face and some spatter on the walls.

He melted back into the shadows as medics entered the alley, preparing to remove the body. He shook his head. This was the fifth death in three nights and whatever was responsible had been leaving no clues behind. Still...He slipped his night vision lenses into place and carefully and methodically searched, just as he had done at the other four scenes. But unlike the other four, this time he found something. Bloody, animalistic footprints.

Now there were two things Batman found strange. First, why could they only be seen with his night lenses? There was just enough light coming into the alley that the investigators should have been able to see the bloody prints. The spatter on the wall was proof of that. The second strange thing was that the prints were going up the wall, like the killer had just simply walked up there. Hmm. He hadn't had a mystery like this in a while. The killer was at the very least half animal and whatever it was, it wanted him to find it. Or maybe whoever was controlling it wanted him to, if someone was controlling it.

Taking out his grappling gun, Batman returned to the roof and followed the trail. Half an hour later found him in the one of the more dangerous areas of Gotham City, which didn't surprise him in the least. The people in this area tended to be closed mouthed. Keeping a secret here was easy, as people didn't see anything beyond their own pathetic lives. The tracks led to one of the many buildings that should have been knocked down years ago and would probably come down on its own any day now. Silently, almost invisible, the Dark Knight, gained entrance to the building through the roof access. He moved carefully through the darkness, every sense alert to unseen danger. He stopped when he saw light pouring up from a room below. As he crept toward the opening to see what lay below, a familiar laugh rang out, prompting an inward sigh.

"Figures," he muttered as he looked down on the room.

Sitting in a chair, giggling like a psychotic school girl, was Batman's most deadly enemy, the Joker. Draped across him, stroking his face lovingly, was his girl, Harley Quinn. The pair had broken out of Arkham months ago and had simply vanished into thin air. Now that they had resurfaced, it was time to shut down whatever they were up to and send them back. His eyes carefully scanned the room, looking for the pet Joker was obviously keeping.

Finding no signs of anyone or anything but the two of them, Batman decided to drop in and get things started. Taking out a batarang with a rope attached, he sent it soaring. Harley shrieked as it wrapped around her and he yanked her off Joker, then sent another batarang flying as he dropped down into the room. It plowed into Joker, knocking him and the chair over backward.

"Batsy!" he exclaimed in a happy voice, watching Batman approach from where he lay. "I knew we'd run into each other sooner or later."

"You led me here, Joker," Batman growled back softly, reaching down and pulling his adversary to his feet. He pushed him up against a wall.

"Lead? Now how could I do that when I've been here enjoying a quiet evening with my sweet Harleykins?" His eyes moved to where Harley lay on the floor, struggling to untie herself.

"Don't play with me tonight Joker!" Batman snarled back, slamming Joker against the wall. "Tell me what the hell you set loose on the streets!"

Joker grinned. "Don't want to catch up eh? All right then. Harley dear, show our friend our little pet."

"Sure thing puddin'," Harley replied brightly, springing to her feet as she got free of the rope and skipping out of the room. She came running back in a moment later, spinning around to watch something else come into the room.

The...creature looked like a brutal cross between a wildcat and a hyena. It was strangely hairless and dark gray in color. Its yellow cat like eyes gleamed with madness and a terrible pain as if every moment it lived was agony. It opened its mouth, revealing two razor sharp, blood stained fangs. All other teeth were missing.

"What have you done?" Batman whispered, tightening his grip on the madman.

"Well, you know how you're always hearing the Hospitals and such crying out for donations? It broke my heart hearing how they're continually running short and are in desperate need, so I decided to help. And in the process, I created life!"

Joker talked as though he were giving a ground breaking speech. "Batman, meet my pride and joy...George! He's a revolutionary breakthrough! He's the ultimate blood collector. Granted, he's still got a few bugs in him. I haven't quite figured out how to get the blood he collects out to give to the hospital but..." he shrugged and giggled.

Batman responded by hitting the lunatic hard, tossing him into Harley and then rolling out of the way as 'George' attacked. The beast was amazingly fast and, naturally, extremely angry. Batman took a few hits, but thankfully its claws didn't penetrate his armor. The fight went on for several minutes, with Batman managing to inflict a few wounds before the unnatural creature turned the tables and brought him to the floor. Batman cried out in pain as fangs sank into the vulnerable part of his shoulder, attempting to rip down and take him apart.

He struggled one handed with the blood sucker while his other hand rapidly searched his utility belt for a weapon. He came out with an electricity gun, which he jammed into the 'George's' tongue and turned on to full power. A horrible scream split the air as the electricity coursed through the mangled body. The eyes grew impossibly wide and blood began to ooze out of them. Batman kept the electricity going a few seconds longer, then turned it off. 'George' shuddered, eyes rolling into his head as he fell to the side. A shudder of breath ran through his body and then all was still.

"Huh," Joker said from where he stood next to Harley. "Weak against electricity." He looked at her and shrugged. "Who knew?" Looking back at Batman who was struggling to his feet, he began backing away. "Well Bats, the reunion was fun, but we gotta split now. People to see and all that." The two criminals turned to run, but Batman sent another rope flying, wrapping around the both of them and tying them tight together.

"Oh no!" Harley shrieked as they went down, landing with a heavy thud. Batman grimaced as he pressed an alert button that would bring the police, then pressed a hand to his wounded shoulder. His gaze raked the couple over, satisfied that they wouldn't be getting loose anytime soon without assistance. He wrote a quick note for Commissioner Gordon, who he knew would be coming, then slipped out of the building. Time to head for home and care for his wound.

Part 1

Two Nights Later:

Batman perched motionless on the roof of a warehouse, watching a couple of men on the dock below. He was doing his best to ignore the fact that his body was telling him he should be at home, resting instead of jumping into something that could have been handled without him...

"You don't look well. Are you all right?"

He managed to retain his control and therefore did not jump. Damn! He hadn't heard her come up on him. His senses were starting to agree with the rest of his body. "I'm fine," Batman replied shortly. _'But you're not,'_ something whispered in his mind. _'You know you shouldn't be here. You should be at home, resting...'_

He shook himself and silenced the voice. Tonight was too important to be at home in bed. He and members of the League, those being Diana, Flash and Green Lantern, had been working on taking down a major smuggling ring for several months and tonight was going to see the end of it. This ring had been responsible for a large amount of drugs circulating Gotham streets that had resulted in the deaths of several kids, both street and 'normal.' Nope. It didn't matter how he was feeling. Nothing was going to make him sit this night out. Princess Diana, better known as Wonder Woman to the rest of the world, studied him closely. He looked pale, more so than normal. The night was cool, but she could see sweat on his face and she was sure she caught a grimace of pain quickly pass over his features. "I don't think you are," she murmured. She reached out to touch his shoulder, starting when Batman snatched her hand, stopping it from reaching its destination.

"I said I'm fine," he repeated without looking at her, a note of warning in his voice.

Diana narrowed her eyes and was about to argue when John's voice came over the comm link. "Look alive boys and girls. We got lots of company coming."

"Bout time," came Flashes' voice. "I'm dying for some action here."

"Quiet," Batman murmured, watching as four cars arrived on the dock. From the water, two motorboats approached. All in all, twenty men had gathered. The cargo from the boats was quickly unloaded and placed in the cars while the leaders of the two groups shook hands and talked like they were old buddies. Probably were.

Batman waited patiently, ignoring the throbbing in this shoulder and suppressing the annoying urge to throw up and when he heard the cue, gave the order to attack. The group swooped down and all hell broke loose. Batman threw all his concentration into the fight and, oddly, the ache in his shoulder and the turning in his stomach abated, replaced by...excitement? No, that couldn't be right. Battles and hurting people, even evil people, didn't excite him. So what was this he was feeling? The sound of a boat gunning its engines reached his ears. Looking up, he saw three men in one of the boats, about to attempt a desperate getaway. With a growl, he finished off his current opponent and ran to the dock, jumping and landing hard in the speeding boat, immediately disarming one of the men and tossing him carelessly over the side. He took out the second man just as easily, but the third gave him a run for his money. He was admirably skilled in the martial arts and fighting on a runaway boat didn't seem to bother him at all which was fine with Batman. It didn't bother him either.

Both combatants were so involved in the fight that they didn't notice where the speeding boat was heading. Even when Batman got the upper hand and had the other man pinned to the floor, crying out in terror, he still took no notice. He was too wrapped up in the fear the other man was displaying. Fear that seemed to provoke him into wanting to cause more, not caring that it could possibly kill the weak mortal below him...

On shore, Flash dumped one of the men in the pile with the others and glanced around, taking a quick head count. Hm, Bats was missing... His gaze moved out to the water as a speed boat motor reached his ears, seeing two more of the men treading water before spotting the boat and his missing teammate. Alarm surged through him as he watched and a few second later, he called out, "Hey! What's the Bat doing? He's gonna crash!"

Instantly, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman took to the air, rushing as fast as they could after the runaway boat. Just seconds before it was going to go up in a ball of flames, Green Lantern let loose the power of his ring. The field of light surrounded the boat and picked it up from the water and Batman still didn't seem to notice anything beyond the terrified man beneath him.

"Get him off me! Get him off me!" the man was screaming.

"Diana!" John exclaimed, opening part of the field. Wonder Woman soared inside and grabbed Batman, pulling him away. Batman responded with a savage growl and began struggling violently in her grip.

"Batman!" she exclaimed, "Batman stop!"

When John's energy field went out, Wonder Woman leapt from the boat, slipping into a fighting stance as an enraged Batman jumped out after her. As the others started toward him, Batman stopped moving, swayed, then slipped bonelessly to the ground. Diana quickly knelt by his side, pressing two fingers to the side of his neck.

"He's burning up!" she exclaimed as she felt the intense heat of his skin. No wonder he'd been sweating earlier...

"He's insane!" the man in the boat, being held firmly by Flash, shouted, eyes wide, skin as white as a sheet. "He's not human! He's a monster!"

"Diana get him back to the tower. Flash and I will wait for the police to pick this bunch up," John said and Diana nodded, carefully picking Batman up and heading for the nearby hidden shuttle.

"What do you think is wrong?" Flash asked and John shook his head. "Don't know. But I got a real bad feeling."

END SCENE

"I came as soon as I could," Superman said an hour later as he entered the room outside the medical lab. "What happened?"

"The Bat went nuts!" Flash replied, then went on to explain what had happened. Superman frowned, then looked to the door as it slid open and J'Onn emerged. "How is he?"

"Gravely ill," J'Onn replied. "He has a dangerously high fever and is in a state of delirium."

"What's causing it?" Flash asked.

"I'm not sure," J'Onn answered. "I've found traces of some kind of toxin in his system but I'm having difficulty isolating it. Hopefully it will be identified soon." He turned and went back into the room, the others following. He moved to Bruce's side and pulled back the sheet covering his sweating, trembling body.

"I believe whatever caused that is responsible for his current state," he said, pointing to the man's exposed right shoulder. The group pressed closer to have a look and discovered a stitched up, nasty looking wound that resembled the bite mark of a large animal.

Flash whistled low. "Wow. Would hate to run into whatever did that."

John's eyes were narrowed as he gazed at the wound, then he snapped his fingers. "Wait a second. Computer, access news archives for the latest out of Gotham City concerning Batman." There was a pause, then a beeping as a TV screen was lowered down and a news cast from Gotham began playing.

"Our Top story tonight," the anchorwoman was saying, "The killer that has been stalking the streets for the past three nights has been brought down by Gotham's own, The Batman. The mind behind the killings, the infamous Joker but it was not he who had been doing the actual killings that claimed five. It was a creature he had created.

The beast," the screen switched to a picture of a very gruesome, very dead thing, "had consumed all the blood of its victims which, according to the Joker, was a simple attempt to collect needed blood for the hospitals..."

The screen went blank as Superman switched it off. Shaking his head in disgust, he said, "Think I'll go have a visit with Joker."

"I'll go with you," John said, heading for the door. Superman nodded, lightly touched Batman's good shoulder, then followed his friend out.

As Diana looked at Bruce's shaking form and listened to his unintelligible rambling, a deep sadness filled her. She sat down and put a hand on his arm, looking up at J'Onn. "I will not let him go without a fight," the Martian answered her unasked question, then turned to study the readouts the computer was reporting.

Flash sighed inwardly, an image of the dead beast slipping into his mind, causing him to shiver. Hearing voices in the outer room and recognizing that they weren't Clark and John's, Flash decided to play messenger and brief the other league members who would be coming to find out about Batman's condition. It was better than doing nothing and would allow J'Onn to work uninterrupted. As he headed into the other room to brief those who had gathered, he silently asked whoever was watching and listening to help pull Bruce through.


	2. part 2

Part 2

Superman and John stood in front of the cell that housed the Joker, ignoring the activity of the other inmates in the cells around them. "Joker!" Superman called out.

Joker raised his head from where he lay and broke into a wide grin. "Well, well!" he exclaimed, jumping up onto his bed and sitting on his haunches. "Isn't this a pleasant surprise. What happened boys? Did ya finally commit old Batsy?" He giggled and bounced a little.

"No," Superman replied, his voice cold. "We've come to ask about that pet of yours Batman took down."

Jokers' face crumbled. "Poor, poor George," he moaned, flopping over with a sob. "He was just a baby! A baby has to eat ya know. And that mean old Batman killed him!"

"Cut the dramatics!" John snapped, causing Joker to raise his head inquiringly. Green Lantern took a step forward, his eyes and ring glowing softly. "What kind of poison did you put in that thing? Some kind of snake venom?"

Joker stared at them, then grinned. "Old Batsy not feeling so good eh? Serves him right I'd say, killing an innocent little baby."

"We've seen pictures of that thing, Joker. Saw the chunk it took out of Batman. That was no baby. What did you put in it?" Superman demanded, his own eyes taking on a red glow.

Joker burst out laughing. "Uh oh! The Boy Scout is getting angry!" He stuck his tongue out. "I hereby exercise my right to the freedom of no talking!" He grinned. "I'll never teeeeellll," he sang, before bursting out in a fresh round of hysterical laughing.

Superman sighed and looked at John. "Come on. We'll never get anything out of him. Let's get back and see if J'Onn came up with anything."

Green Lantern threw a disgusted look at the Joker before turning and following Superman out. Joker stopped laughing and got up, moving to the door and peering out. In the cell across from him, Harvey Dent, A.K.A. Two Face, called out to him, "Just what did you do to the Bat?"

Joker grinned. "Harvey my boy, the Bat is about to go through an identity crisis he won't soon forget." As the Joker went back to insane laughter, Two Face shook his head and turned his back, flipping his coin.

END SCENE

Bruce didn't know where he was, or what was going on. He hated that. Hated not being in control of a situation. Hated not knowing where he was. Hated...everything. But no...he didn't. Not everything. Just those who preyed on the weak. Who lived to cause death and pain. Where was he? He was surrounded by darkness. Normally, he had no problem with that. The darkness was his friend, his ally. But this darkness was different. It was thick with malice. With discomfort and, he suddenly realized, he wasn't alone. There was something there with him.

"Who's there?" he demanded sharply. Show yourself!"

He tried to activate his night vision but it wouldn't work. He would have to rely on his senses. A cold breeze washed over him, causing him to shiver. Then a voice, soft and silky whispered, _"I cannot show myself, for I have no form."_

"Who are you?" _"I am everything, and anything."_

"What the hell does that mean?"

The breeze moved over him again, caressing his face. _"I am your innermost desires, your fears...your darkness."_

The breeze became warm and seemed to penetrate his body, wrapping around his heart and his soul and causing him to gasp in pleasure. _"I represent what you truly are."_

"What are you talking about?" Bruce whispered, struggling against the wonderful feelings coursing through his body. "Stop talking in riddles!"

_"I know you don't understand. It's okay, don't worry...I'll take care of you. Everything will be fine. Rest now, rest..."_

END SCENE

J'Onn was injecting Bruce with something when Superman and John got back. "Find anything out?" Flash asked and Superman shook his head.

"No, he refused to say what he did." He moved to stand next to J'Onn. "How is he?"

"I think I managed to isolate the virus. I just gave him what will hopefully be the cure." Superman nodded, patted J'Onn's shoulder and left the room. He went to the communications council in another room and dialed in a number.

After a moment, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler, appeared on the monitor. "I'm sorry sir," he began, "Mr.."

"He's here, Alfred," Superman interrupted, then explained what was going on.

"Oh dear," Alfred responded, worry plain on his face. "I told him he didn't look well and should have stayed home. Is he all right?"

"We're working on it. I thought you should know, though."

"Thank you sir. I shall inform Master Robin and Batgirl at once."

"I'll keep you informed," Superman said, then cut the connection. He sat down with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when a voice said, "The serum is working."

He looked up to find J'Onn had slipped into the room. "I think he will be all right," the Martian continued.

"I sense a 'but' in there somewhere," Superman replied warily.

J'Onn was silent for a moment, then said, "I am troubled. I have sensed the movement of a shadow within him three times now, but when I scanned, I was unable to find anything and I do not wish to venture too far into his mind while he is unconscious."

Superman frowned. "Are you suggesting that we keep an eye on him when he wakes up?"

"I think that would be wise until we are certain beyond any doubt that he is completely normal."

Superman was silent a moment, then sighed and nodded. "All right. I'll let the others know." As the Man of Steel left the room, J'Onn sat crossed legged on the floor, clearing his mind as he slipped into a meditative state.

END SCENE

The darkness was becoming tiresome. The voice had been silent for some time now, causing Bruce to question whether there really had been something there, speaking with him. He had no idea how long he had been in this place and, with a growl of annoyance, decided it was time to find a way out. He began walking. True, he had no idea where he was going, but at least he was doing something.

He judged about a half hour had passed when that cold warm breeze washed over him and that voice whispered, _"This way."_

"Where?" Bruce asked and felt himself being turned to his right. Straight ahead, a pinpoint of light appeared.

_"Go to it,"_ the voice said and again, he felt that warm pleasure wrap itself around his heart and soul. He began walking toward the light. As it grew brighter, the pleasure coursing through him began melting away, replaced by pain. He stopped and moaned softly.

"Bruce?" He looked up as another voice echoed around him. One that he knew. Diana?

"Yes, it's me. Can you open your eyes?"

He frowned. How had she heard him say her name? She wasn't a telepath. Unless she had been keeping something from them... Soft laughter floated around him and then suddenly J'Onn was standing before him. Bruce took a startled step back. "What...?"

"Easy," J'Onn said then held out his hand. "Take my hand. I will guide you back."

_'Do it,'_ the voice whispered faintly and automatically, Bruce reached out and took J'Onn's hand. A bright light enveloped him and then pain and grogginess assaulted him. Slowly, faces began swimming around murkily above him. He blinked a few times and the faces of his teammates slowly came into focus.

"Hey, welcome back, Bats," Flash said with a grin. "You gave us a real good scare there."

"What happened?" Bruce asked, his voice weak and more gravelly than usual.

"You went a little crazy at the dock and passed out," Flash replied. "Don't you remember?"

"You were poisoned," J'Onn said before Bruce could reply. "The creature you fought the other night," he added at Bruce's confused look.

"How long?" "Four days," Diana supplied.

"What!" Bruce immediately started trying to get up, but Superman easily held him down.

"Easy," he murmured. "Everything's fine. Your boy Robin has been looking after things and we've been pitching in too. Relax and rest."

_'Everything will be fine. Rest.'_

Bruce frowned as those words echoed in his mind. Something was trying to make itself known, but he couldn't grasp what. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get his thoughts together and when he opened them again, was startled to find only J'Onn in the room.

"Where did they go?"

"Left to allow you time to rest," J'Onn replied, coming over to the bedside. "How do you feel?" He must have sensed Batman's state of confusion for he added, "You have been asleep for nearly three hours."

Three hours. He had closed his eyes for a moment and that much time had passed? Damn, he really had been knocked for a loop. He looked back at J'Onn as the Martian began speaking again.

"I want you to stay here overnight so that I might observe you. Make certain there are no side effects."

"I'm fine," Bruce replied, carefully sitting up and fighting back the dizziness as his gaze searched for his uniform.

"I request that you remain," J'Onn said, putting a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "The virus you had been infected with was highly unusual." Bruce slowly got to his feet, putting a hand on J'Onn's own shoulder and squeezing lightly before heading to where his costume had been stored.

"I'm fine, J'Onn. Thank you for all that you did, but I can look after myself from here."

J'Onn stared at Bruce for a few seconds, then nodded and stepped aside, allowing his friend to leave the room. As he watched the man go, the sense that not all was right crept over him, leaving him with a sense of foreboding.


	3. part 3

Part 3

He crouched on the edge of a high rooftop, looking down on the city, listening and watching for trouble. After a while, he decided to move on and stood, leaping from the ledge. The realization that he wasn't using his grappling hook to soar through the air hit him after about thirty seconds. Looking around, he discovered he had wings! Not wings like Hawkgirl, though. These were leathery and were attached to his arms. Like a bat.

Exhilaration filled him as he flew through the air, feeling more and more like his namesake. Feeling more powerful than ever before in his abilities to inspire terror. A scream reached his ears and he looked down, catching sight of a man running from a couple, one of whom was laying motionless on the ground. With a growl, Batman tracked the running man into an alley, swooping down after him. He landed silently behind the thug and crept up to him, grabbing him when the man turned and slamming him up against a wall. The man screamed and Batman grinned, enjoying the pure terror in his prey's eyes.

The next thing he knew, his teeth were sinking into the man's neck and sweet, sweet blood was flowing down his throat, giving him strength...more power to inspire fear. When he finished, he dropped the body and looked down, finding blood pooling at his feet and rising rapidly, getting deeper until it was waist high. Laughter slipped from his lips, slowly getting louder and more fearsome until it was all anyone could hear...

With a sharp gasp, Bruce bolted upright in bed, breathing hard as he looked around. A dream, his rational mind told him, just a dream. He lay back down, slowly regaining control, hands covering his face. A dream, but so real... His eyes strayed to the door as it opened and Alfred slipped inside. When he saw the younger man was awake, he smiled and said cheerfully, "Good morning," as he crossed over to the massive curtains. "How are you feeling?"

'Lousy,' Bruce thought but out loud said, "Better."

Alfred made a noise of approval as he pushed a button and the drapes slowly pulled back, letting the bright morning sun fill the room. Bruce winced at the light and put a hand up to shield his eyes, holding back a groan. Alfred switched on the TV, then went back into the hall, returning seconds later with a cart holding breakfast and the morning paper. At the sight of food, Bruce's stomach rumbled but he wasn't sure if it was from hunger or revolution. He sat up, however, as Alfred brought the food over, accepting the tray. He frowned as he looked at a little bottle full of dark liquid.

"Alfred, what's this?" he asked, picking it up for a closer look.

"Ah yes, Mr. Kent was here earlier. He said that your Martian friend, J'Onn, had been studying the virus you had been infected with and believed this concoction would kill off anything that may be lingering. He recommended you take that following a good breakfast."

_'Poison,'_ something whispered in this mind. _'They're trying to get control of you. They're up to something.'_

Bruce blinked and shook his head to clear it. What the hell was that? "Master Bruce? Are you all right?" Alfred asked, concern crossing his features.

"Yes, Yes I'm fine. Thank you, Alfred." Alfred studied Bruce for a few seconds, then nodded and left the room. Bruce turned his attention to the food, wondering at the sudden loss of appetite despite being ravenous.

He managed to eat the majority though, then picked up the bottle J'Onn had left. Ignoring the voice whispering nonsense in his mind, he downed the contents, then got up and slipped on a pair of sweat pants. He got down on the floor and began his morning ritual of pushups as he listened to the news, stopping when his shoulder began protesting too much. At that point, he put on a sweatshirt and headed downstairs, intending on going for his morning jog. He opened and the front door and hesitated, staring at the sunlight outside, beyond the shadows of the door. Finally, he shook himself and growled, stepping outside and continuing his morning exercise.

END SCENE

A week passed and the dreams persisted, each a little different but always ending the same way. Batman up to his waist in blood, laughing hysterically. And things changed. Day three ended Bruce's morning jog. His appetite was nonexistent, making it an extreme chore to eat. By day four, he was sleeping until sunset, leaving strict orders not to be awakened. By day five he was sleeping in the cave.

Alfred was becoming deeply concerned for his health and Tim Drake, the current Robin, who had been watching one to many horror movies of late, continually made references to the 'undead' which Alfred repeatedly told him were ridiculous. Robin kept a close watch anyway. One night, a couple of hours before dawn, Batman interrupted an attempted rape. He perused the offender, catching him easily and throwing him roughly into an alley. "

Time for a lesson in how to treat a lady," he growled as he picked the man up and threw him against a wall. "I..I was only kidding man!" the punk cried out.

"I...I wasn't really gonna...gonna hurt her!"

Batman smirked. "And I'm not really going to hurt you either," he snarled before smashing the goon into another wall. The man groaned, slumping limply in Batman's grip, blood tricking down from a hidden head wound. Batman froze at the sight, watching the red substance slowly making its way down the thug's neck. He stared at the neck, could see it pulsing...racing with fear that he could smell... The sound of sirens startled him and he jumped back, allowing the rapist to fall to the ground. Moving quickly, Batman tied him up, then took to the roof tops, watching the police search the area until they found the piece of scum. Feeling a little shaken, Batman then turned and headed for home.

END SCENE

Surprisingly, Alfred was waiting for him when he returned. "Master Bruce, we need to talk," he stated the second the door to the Batmobile slid open.

"Not now, Alfred," Batman replied wearily as he left the car.

"Yes now. Master Bruce there is something wrong and I am deeply concerned. Your behavior lately has been highly erratic, even for you."

Batman turned and fixed Alfred with a stony stare. Alfred stared back, not the least bit intimidated. After a moment of staring at each other, Alfred said quietly, "Bruce, this is absurd. This aversion to the sun you've developed, not the mention food, is unhealthy. Have you looked in a mirror lately? You look dreadful!"

He paused, then began to fight dirty. "Think of Tim. If you won't seek help for yourself or for me, then do it for Master Tim. That boy needs you, Bruce. You have a responsibility to him, one that you can't possibly acknowledge while on the path you are currently walking."

Batman stared at Alfred, then sighed and removed his cowl. "Alfred," he said softly, closing the distance and putting a gentle hand on the older man's shoulder. "Alfred, I want you to take some time off. Go home. Visit with your relatives and your old friends."

Alfred gave him a startled look. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. Before he could protest, Bruce continued, "Something is happening, Alfred. I'm not sure what but I'm certain it's dangerous. I don't want you here where you could most likely get hurt." He paused, then added, "Take Tim with you. I'm sure he'd love to spend a few weeks in England."

"And what do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to see J'Onn. If there's something in my head, he'll know it." Alfred went through an obvious internal struggle for several minutes, sorting through Bruce's words and his options. Finally, he nodded.

"Very well. I will pack immediately."

Bruce squeezed his shoulder gently, offering a ghost of a smile. Only when the older man was gone, did he sit down heavily, running a hand through his dark hair. Through the entire conversation, he had watched the pulsing in the other man's neck and had imagined he could hear the beating of his heart. God, what the hell was happening?

'I'll say goodbye to Alfred and Tim, then go to the Tower and talk to J'Onn,' he thought. That decided, he stood and headed for the stairs, stopping half way as his mind clouded and his body began demanding sleep. Almost in a daze, he turned and went to the cot he kept in a corner, asleep the second he laid down.

END SCENE

Superman followed the signal to a deserted back road near the Gotham City Airport, wondering why Bruce hadn't used the comm. Link or why he hadn't just gone to the Tower. 'Find out in a minute,' he thought as he touched down lightly near the waiting car.

"Bruce?" he called out. The door opened and Alfred Pennyworth, followed by Tim Drake, stepped out of the car.

"Master Bruce is not here, Mr. Kent," the Englishman said.

Superman raised a brow. "What's up?"

"I have something of importance to discuss with you." He looked down at Tim. "Master Tim, would you kindly wait in the car, please?"

Tim looked up at Alfred in surprise. "What? How come?"

"Master Tim, you are my charge. Please do as I ask and wait in the car."

Tim grumbled something, but did as he was told. Superman had a concerned look in his eyes. "Alfred what's going on?"

"I am deeply worried about Master Bruce. He's been behaving very strangely ever since his return from the Tower. He barely eats, he sleeps down in the cave from sunrise to sunset and...well..."

He trailed off and Superman put a light hand on the older man's shoulder. "What is it, Alfred?"

He went on to reveal everything he knew. "He insisted Master Tim and I go to England for a couple of weeks. Said he was going to seek help from Mr. J'Onnz, but I felt I should alert you just the same."

Superman frowned, remembering his conversation with J'Onn nearly two weeks earlier when Batman had still been unconscious. "Thank you, Alfred. We'll certainly watch him and I'll have J'Onn do a scan."

"Thank you, sir," Alfred said and the pair shook hands. "Have a safe trip," Superman said, then took to the skies, heading back to Metropolis.

END SCENE

Batman moved silently through the halls of the Tower. His mind felt numb...cloudy. He was having trouble clearing it. And he was hungry, but he didn't know for what. He stopped moving, staring ahead at nothing. Why had he come up here again? He couldn't seem to remember, which prompted a low growl of annoyance. "Bruce?"

He looked up to find Diana a few feet away from him, a concerned look in her eyes. "You okay?" she asked as she closed the distance between them. "You look like you're a million miles away."

"I'm fine," came the automatic response...the automatic lie. He wasn't fine and he knew it. Something was wrong as Alfred had stated...

Diana raised an elegant eyebrow, giving him a critical look. "The last time you said that, you ended up spending four days unconscious in the medical bay." Suspicion flashed through her eyes and she reached up, pressing her hand against his cheek before he could snatch it. "At least you're not burning up. So what brings you up here? You're not scheduled back for at least another week and you don't normally come up here unless you need to." A small, teasing smile played across her lips. "You run out of thugs to terrorize in Gotham?"

Why was he up here? Something was wrong...J'Onn! That's right, he'd come looking for J'Onn to see if the Martian could help identify what the problem was. "Looking for J'Onn," he answered. "Need to talk to him."

"He was in the Monitor Womb last I saw. Probably still there."

Batman nodded and turned to go, stopping when Diana said, "Bruce." Turning back to her, he found the concerned look once more in her eyes. "You sure you're okay?"

'_Annoying bitch,' _whispered that voice he'd been hearing a lot of lately. _'Should teach her to mind her own business.' _He gave himself a quick, mental shake, startled by the thought. He held nothing but respect toward the Amazon princess and that thought was just one more reason he needed J'Onn to have a look in his head. Still, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that something was indeed wrong. So, he simply nodded, turned and walked away.

Agitation was steadily creeping over him. Or maybe it was the hunger which once again brought him back to hunger for what? Nothing in the four basic food groups had appealed to him lately and junk food was definitely out of the question.

He rounded a corner and paused, watching a lone maintenance man open the door to the stairwell and disappear inside. So what? He was probably checking out the supplies on the lowest deck. Shaking off a desire to follow him, Batman continued on, but paused once he reached the door, staring at it like it held the answers to all his questions.

He was halfway down the stairs before he realized he had even gone in. "What the hell..." he muttered, stopping and looking up toward the door. He started to go back up, but stopped after only two steps and looked back down to the door the maintenance man would have gone through. Why was he so drawn there? It wasn't like what lay beyond that door needed his undivided attention. Right?

With another growl of annoyance, Batman finally gave in to the urge and descended the stairs, silently slipping into the dimly lit room beyond. Melting into the shadows, he moved until he spotted the young man, stopping to observe him. As he had figured, the boy was taking stock of supplies, carefully counting and marking things off on his clipboard. The soft rustling of his cape as Batman moved caught the man's attention and he turned, looking for the source of the sound, his name tag coming into view. Jason Waters.

"Hello?" Jason called out. When he got no answer and the sound did not repeat, he shrugged and returned to his work.

A little grin crossed Batman's lips as a strange, almost mischievous feeling overcame him and he moved again, quick enough that his cape rustled a little louder, once again catching Jason's attention. "Hello? Jeff if that's you, haha. Come on out."

Batman moved again so that the noise now came from behind Jason, who turned quickly, a nervous look entering his eyes. "Come on, Jeff, enough," he said, moving a little toward the area Batman was in. "Quit screwing around and help me with this stuff. J'Onn's expecting the report before the end of our shift."

Batman was beginning to become aware of a scent in the room as he watched Jason. A scent he couldn't really identify but was aroused by nevertheless. He moved again, allowing Jason to see an indistinguishable shape that caused the boy to jump and draw in a startled breath as he took a step back. The scent increased and some instinct buried within Batman stirred and told him it was fear he smelled. More instincts were stirring and rising up to take over as the scent of fear continued to increase, nearly driving him crazy with the intoxication of it all.

He watched Jason making his way to where the light switches were to reveal whatever it was that was in the room with him. A smirk made its way across Batman's lips as he removed a Batarang and made another noise that had Jason turning his head sharply in his direction. Batman let the Batarang fly, smashing into the switches and plunging the dimly lit room into complete darkness. The scent of fear spiked as a cry escaped Jason's lips.

The fact that he didn't have his night vision lenses in place and yet could see his prey as though they were never occurred to him as he shot forward and lightly touched Jason's arm as he passed him. He growled softly in pleasure at the terrified yell Jason let out and decided he had better silence his prey before he attracted attention.

He moved up behind Jason and grabbed him, one hand clamping down tightly over his prey's mouth while the other encircled the boy's chest and held him tightly against his own chest. He felt the terrified pounding of Jason's heart, beating so hard it felt like it might burst from his chest at any second. Now completely driven by instincts, Batman forced Jason's head to tilt to the side, never feeling the fangs that slid down from some hidden place, though he did feel them sinking through skin like it was no more than soft butter.

As wonderfully warm liquid slid down his throat, understanding suddenly filled him. The life source of all living beings...this was what he'd been hungry for...what he'd been needing. A strength and power he had never felt before washed over him like a wave as an inner door was opened and something emerged. Something that was going to bring a new terror upon the world like none seen before...

A sudden, terrible pain crashed through Batman's head and, dropping the unconscious Jason to the floor, he grabbed his head and stumbled back a few feet. No! This was wrong! He was not a monster! He would not succumb to whatever was in his head!

He had to get out of there...had to get somewhere safe to fight this power...had to get it under some semblance of control before seeking J'Onn's help.

Somehow, he managed to get out of the storage room, ripping his batarang out of the light control panel along the way, and half ran half stumbled to a transportation unit. When he was back in the cave, he pressed a button to activate his highest security system, and then collapsed to the floor with a terrible cry that echoed throughout the cave and seemed to go on forever.

The battle had begun.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

J'Onn nodded as he watched the monitors displaying the missions of a number of heros. Occasionally, he issued instructions but mostly he just watched, ensuring everything was going as smooth as could be.

Feelings of intense fear suddenly slipped into his mind, startling him and causing him to straighten up, his body tense. "J'Onn?" Mikey, the tech man next to him asked, "You okay?"

J'Onn didn't answer, his eyes glowing as he tried to find the source of the fear that he had quickly determined was somewhere on the Tower. Just seconds after he located the source, it abruptly ceased. But at least he had found it. He quickly pressed a button to get a video feed of the storage bay down below, only to find complete darkness.

"John, come in please," he said, activating the communications council.

"I hear ya, J'Onn," came the response, "what's up?"

"Something has happened down in the storage bay. Would you check it out, please?"

"On my way," John replied.

As J'Onn cut the communication, he was suddenly knocked off his feet as a terrible, dark coldness like he'd never felt before raced up the link he shared with the others and slammed into him. His defenses immediately kicked in, struggling to force the coldness away from him before it caused serious harm while startled tech's tried to find out if he was all right.

"J'Onn! J'Onn!"

He was vaguely aware of Flash kneeling next to him, having been attracted by the sudden commotion, but was unable to respond to his friend just yet. What an intense darkness this was! He was having difficulty isolating it to prevent it from hurting any of the others on his link. He would have to temporarily sever the link to protect the others while he tried to figure out what this was and why it had seemed to originate from it.

He gathered his power together, neatly severing his connection with the others while at the same time, trying to track the darkness. It wasn't as easy as it should have been considering the magnitude of it but he finally did it. Locating the source, he forced himself to pass through it, struggling to keep the awful coldness of it at bay just long enough for him to discover where on the link it had originated.

No...! "Batman!" he shouted even as horrible pain engulfed him, ripping a scream from deep within his soul...

He sat bolt upright, breathing hard and fast, sweat pouring down his face. "J'Onn!"

His head snapped to his right to find the worried eyes of Superman gazing at him.

"Easy J'Onn," the Kryptonian said, putting a firm hand on the Martian's shoulder. "Just breath deep...you're okay..."

J'Onn struggled to do as instructed, his gaze zipping around the room and discovering he was no longer in the monitor womb, but on one of the beds in the medical bay. "What..."

"You've been in some kind of trance for two hours," Superman said. "It looked like you were in trouble so we had to move you here to monitor you. J'Onn...what happened?"

J'Onn closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was having some difficulty remembering, especially with the headache he had. Slowly, it started coming back to him. "I was in the monitor womb...I started picking up on feelings of fear that I traced to the storage room. I asked John to check it out..."

"And I found the unconscious body of Jason Waters, along with a smashed light control panel," John interrupted as he appeared on the other side of J'Onn. "There are couple of needle sized holes in his neck and he's missing quite a bit of blood," he added. "We checked out the security tape but whoever or whatever attacked him stayed out of camera range until the lights were blown out."

J'Onn frowned and Superman said, "What else happened J'Onn?"

J'Onn focused back on his memories. "Something came up the link. Something very cold and very dark. I...had to sever the link to protect the rest of you while I attempted to locate the source..." J'Onn's eyes widened and he gripped Superman's arm. "Batman!" he exclaimed. "It had come from Batman's part of the link! Kal, we must locate him quickly! It is urgent that I look inside his mind!"

Superman nodded, looking up at John who immediately hurried from the room. "All right, J'Onn. We'll work on locating Batman. In the meantime, I want you to rest. It looks like that little trip you took drained a lot out of you."

J'Onn wanted to protest...wanted to help find Bruce, but knew Superman was right. He was exhausted from that search through the link and he did need rest. So he nodded and lay back down, accepting the cold compress a medic handed him and tried to fight back the after affects of his encounter with the cold darkness.

END SCENE

The Question gazed silently at the destroyed light panel, seeking any secrets it held that would aid him in discovering who or what had attacked Jason Waters. He flipped the switch off and on and, encountering resistence, took out a small flashlight and started going over every inch...every nook and cranny with extreme care, humming softly to himself as he did.

He paused the light when he caught sight of something that didn't belong. Something seemed to be wedged in between the switch holder and the switch itself. Pulling out a pair of tweezers, he reached in and pulled the object out, holding it up for closer inspection. It was the edge of something black and sharp and reminded the Question of something he had seen many times before. He searched his memory carefully and didn't particularly liked what popped up.

"Not very encouraging," he murmured, putting the object in his pocket and searching the panel again.

Finding nothing more, the Question left the supply room and headed back to the upper level where a couple of maintenance men waited for permission to fix the light panel. "All yours," he murmured as he passed them.

He headed back to his quarters, surveying the room closely to ensure that nothing was out of place and that there was nothing there that didn't belong. When he was satisfied that all was as it should be, he closed the door, locking it securely. He then moved over to a bookcase filled with books from various conspiracy theorists built into the wall. Pressing a button hidden under one of the shelves, the bookcase slide aside to reveal a display case filled with weapons and gadgets he had collected from other heros. Secretly of course.

There were various smoke and gas pellets, mini crossbows, arrows, laser and magical weapons. He zeroed in on one tool in particular, one of Batman's Batarangs that Batman had thought destroyed in a battle. Picking it up, the Question retrieved the object from his pocket and held it up for comparison. Had he a visible mouth, it would have been turned down in a frown.

"Definitely not encouraging."

3 Days Later:

Flash sighed as he gazed around the table at his teammates. "Three days and nothing," he said. "I can understand the rest of us having trouble finding him. If he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be until he's ready, but how is he staying off your radar, J'Onn?"

The Martian Manhunter shook his head. "He is being blocked from me. By what or who, I have been unable to determine."

"How can we be certain he's still on Earth?" Shayera asked. "Or even in this dimension for that matter?"

"Hmm," Superman glanced at Shayera with a nod before looking over at J'Onn. "Could that be what's blocking him from you, J'Onn?"

J'Onn considered the question for a moment before shaking his head. "If he were no longer in this dimension, he would indeed be blocked from me, but not like this. This is cold and evil. Whatever blocks him from me...I fear for his life."

"At this point, I don't think it's his life you should be afraid for." The little group looked toward the door and found the Question standing there, hands in his pockets, hat pulled low over his face.

"What do you mean?" Superman asked, unable to keep the wariness out of his voice.

The Question approached the table, one hand withdrawing from his pocket to place a black object down before them.

"What this?" Diana asked, picking it up to examine it.

"I found it lodged in the light panel down in the storage room," the Question answered. His hand returned to his pocket and pulled out another object which he placed on the table. It was one of Batman's Batarangs. "That," he said, nodding to the object Diana held, "Is a piece of a Batarang. It's likely that whoever destroyed the light panel is also responsible for attacking the boy."

"Whoa! Hold on now!" Flash exclaimed. "Why would Bats attack one of our maintenance guys? You finding a piece of his Batarang in the light panel only says that someone with a batarang broke it. That doesn't prove that Bats attacked the guy! And what about the marks on his neck and the missing blood?"

A slight smirk crossed Flash's lips. "You going to tell us Bats siphoned it out or something?"

"Flash," Superman started, but the Question held up a hand, stopping the man of steel from speaking.

"That is indeed the biggest question of all right now." He looked toward Diana and said, "You spoke with Batman the day Jason Waters was attacked, correct?"

Diana nodded. "Yes. He'd come up to speak with J'Onn. He seemed rather...distracted and a little jumpy. Not at all like himself."

The Question nodded, like he had been expecting that response. "I check all the logs for that day. Someone eliminated all traces of Batman having been up here that day." He held up a hand again to stop questions. "It gets better. I had examined Jason Waters before examining the light panel. I gathered a sample of DNA from the marks around his neck for analysis and after finding that piece of Batarang, compared it with a sample of Batman's DNA I obtained some time ago thanks to the transporter logs."

He ignored the raising of eyebrows and, after a quick pause, continued. "Traces of his DNA were present, along with another I couldn't identify. I sent it to a contact at STAR labs who was only able to determine that it wasn't human. I suggest you get the word out. Batman must be found and examined immediately. He could be a serious danger both to himself and to others."

Superman cast a worried look around the table before nodding. "We'll put an alert out right away. He may be good at hiding, but he can't hide from the entire league for long."

The Question nodded and turned to leave. "I will keep you updated on my own progress."

Once he was gone, Flash looked at Superman and said, "You don't really believe Bruce went Vampire Bat on us do you?"

"That thing of the Joker's was draining people of their blood and it bit Bruce," John said.

Superman sighed. "Right now, we need to worry about finding him. We'll cross this other bridge when we come to it. Oracle? You still there?"

"Yes," came the electronic voice as the holographic head representing the Oracle shimmered into existence. "I'll alert all my contacts and the second I hear anything, I'll let you know."

Superman nodded, standing. "Good. Lets get to work."

END SCENE

He moved soundlessly in the darkness of the warm night. More silently than he ever had before, his senses more alert than ever before. Some part of him knew he shouldn't be out...shouldn't be hunting. He should be fighting right now. But...fighting what? He couldn't remember. Hunger was all he knew right then, and satisfying it was his top priority.

The scent of death caught his attention and he turned toward it, following its call, knowing that where death was, the chances of a good feed was greatly increased. The scent led him to the aftermath of a gang war. From the rooftop, he watched paramedics sort through bodies, searching for survivors they could aid. Police worked to keep spectators at bay while at the same time questioning witnesses and arresting participators who weren't currently dead or dying.

No...there were too many people here. He would have to hunt elsewhere this night. He turned to leave, pausing when a shout rang out. He turned back and watched as one of the wounded broke through the crowd, running swiftly down the street, a couple of cops chasing after him.

A smile touched his lips and he set off after the runners, easily keeping pace. The wounded man was surprisingly fast considering his condition and the cops were beginning to fall behind. Anticipating where the boy was going, he increased his own speed, getting ahead and dropping down into an alley.

As his prey started passing by, he reached out and snatched the boy's arm, yanking him into the darkness of the alley and slamming him up against the wall. His prey let out a surprised yell that turned to fear and pain as he sank his fangs into the soft neck and proceeded to feed.

The boy's struggles slowed as what was left of his life blood was drained from him and when there was nothing left, he stepped back, allowing the body to fall lifelessly to the ground. Hearing the approach of the boy's pursuers, he headed to the roof and watched as the cops stopped, spotting the body laying half in half out of the alley.

He licked the bit of blood from his lips as he watched one of the cops check to see if the boy was still alive while the other called it in. There had been a kick to the life source that he had enjoyed. Perhaps it was the adrenalin rushing through the boy's system that had caused it. Or maybe the narcotics he had used earlier that day. Or perhaps both.

A smile passed his lips. New York. What a town.

END SCENE

**VAMPIRES STALK NEW YORK!**

A special edition of _We know the truth _newsletter

by Amber Grey

_That's right folks! Vampires are among us and I don't mean those pitiful souls who paint their faces in black eyeliner, listen to heavy music and claim to be the sons and daughters of the legendary creatures of the night. No, I'm talking about the real deal._

_According to a reliable source, bodies have been turning up in the city morgue, completely drained of blood and bearing the infamous calling card of the vampire...two needle sized holes in the side of the neck. Of course, just as they deny that bubble gum releases toxins into children that slowly mutate them and will eventually turn them into the government's own private version of the JLA, authorities are also denying what we know to be true, claiming it to be the work of regular human crackpots who will be caught and brought to justice. _

_I have seen the pictures ladies and gentlemen and my source has seen the bodies. This is not the work of normal human beings. We have a supernatural killer on the loose and this is a call to arms! A plea to those hunters out there who know the truth...who know that Vampires exist despite the attempted cover up. Please, free New York from the predators stalking her streets..._

The Question sat back, staring thoughtfully at his computer screen. Finally! After nearly two weeks, a lead had finally turned up. And what better way for it to present itself than through the work of an acquaintance.

Turning the computer off, he stood and left his room, heading for a transporter. He set the coordinates for New York city, stepped inside and vanished.

END SCENE

Amber Grey had never liked being called paranoid. Paranoid was such an ugly word. It made her sound crazy and she was most certainly not crazy. It was those people who chose not to see what was truly going on around them there were crazy. Honestly, who in their right mind would choose to ignore the fact that the government was in complete control of weather patterns and was using it to keep the common cold circulating in order to keep bringing in the billions of dollars a year made from cold medications? Now that was crazy.

Currently, the twenty nine year old raven haired beauty was pouring through e-mails from people claiming to have information on all types of conspiracies. Those that caught her interest, she saved for further inspection later on. She was skimming through one e-mail from someone who claimed that rats were incredibly intelligent beings plotting to take over the world when there was a soft knock at her door.

Mulling over the rat theory, she answered the door and her blue eyes widened in pleased surprise behind her glasses. "Q!" she exclaimed, smiling as she opened the door further to allow her visitor to enter. "Long time no see! I guess the league has been keeping you pretty busy huh?"

"A little," the Question answered as he turned and gave her a quick hug. "It's good to see you, Amber, but I'm afraid this isn't a pleasure visit. I need your help."

"Sure," Amber answered, leading him over to sit on the couch. "What's up?"

"I read your latest newsletter concerning Vampires. I need to know everything you know."

Amber raised an eyebrow. "You've become a Vampire hunter now too?"

"No, not yet anyway. I have a missing friend who may be connected to these reports. It's imperative that I find out everything I can about what's been happening here. And I'd like to get a look at one of the bodies to gather a DNA sample."

Amber nodded and hurried over to her computer. "My source works at the city morgue. He's one of my biggest informants. He contacted me about a week ago with these."

She pulled up an e-mail, then sat back to allow him to read.

'_Amber, something really bizarre is going on. A few nights ago, some casualties of a gang war were brought in. While performing autopsies, I discovered that one of the bodies had been completely drained of blood and there were two needle sized holes in the side of the neck. Considering he had been in a gang war and was a drug user, I dismissed it. However, since then, three more bodies have been brought to me in the same condition, none of them having any history of drug use. I am starting to suspect Vampires. I have sent you pics and will let you know when any more come in, which I'm sure they will. _

_Nick.'_

Amber pulled up three pictures of the bodies mentioned with the focus being on the wounds in their necks. "He's e-mailed me every time another one comes in. So far, he's up to six."

"Can you contact him?" the Question asked. "I need to see the bodies."

Amber nodded, brining up a messenger window. _'Nick,'_ she typed, _'You there?'_

It was a moment before a response came. _'Yes Amber, what's up?'_

'_Need to know if any new vamp victims have come in,' _Amber typed.

'_No, not since my last e-mail to you,' _came Nick's response

"That was three nights ago," Amber told Question.

The Question nodded and said, "Ask him if he still has the bodies."

Amber typed in the question and received a negative in response. _'I was forced to release them for burial or cremation right away. Three guesses as to who's behind that.'_

"Ask if he took any DNA samples," Question directed.

'_Yeah, I have them in storage in my office. Didn't tell anyone of course.'_

"Excellent. Tell him I'm on my way," Question said.

Amber nodded and typed, _'Listen Nick. I have the Question here with me. He's investigating this case and needs to see your DNA samples. He'll be there soon, give him what he needs. He's okay, he can be trusted.' _

'_Are you serious?'_ came the reply and Amber laughed softly.

'_Completely,'_ she answered. She glanced up to find her friend had already gone. She smiled and typed, _'I have to get back to work. Let me know how it goes with Question. Later.' _She signed off, pulled her e-mail back up and continued reading the rat conspiracy.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Phoenix87: Thanks for the review! Yes, Nightwing will def be in it. He'll be turning up a little later, along with Robin and Batgirl and, like, a million others.

Louie Pastiche: Thanks for your review too! I'm glad the rewrite seems to be going well and I hope it was worth the wait! It's gonna be a while before this is finished tho. There's a lot of stuff about to go down. Thanks again!

Lil :)

PART 5

Taking a cab, the Question arrived at the city Morgue nearly twenty minutes later, the ride giving him some time to think about what the DNA samples could hold. If Batman's DNA was present there as well...what that could mean was a truly frightening thought and held the potential of striking a serious blow in the ranks of the JLA. Especially among the founding members.

He was met by Doctor Nick Johnson, a man in his early thirties with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. "It's an honor to meet you sir," Nick said, offering a hand wearing a surgical glove and a big smile.

Question moved to shake the hand but stopped and pulled back when he saw the glove. Nick looked down and a nervous laugh escaped his lips. "Whoops. Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin. He turned and said, "Come on to my office and I'll show you the samples," as he removed the gloves, tossing them into a garbage container as he passed by.

The Question followed him down a long hallway, past several doors leading to examination rooms and storage rooms, finally reaching one that held the Doctor's name. "So what do you think?" Nick asked as he headed toward one wall where a picture of the human body was hung. "You think the government is behind this thing running around?"

"I'd be more concerned that the government is using common house plants that release microscopic germs that, once breathed in, allow them to see your dreams every night than I would be that they're behind these attacks," Question answered as Nick moved the picture aside to reveal a wall safe.

Nick glanced back at the Question, wide eyed, before opening the safe and removing a tray filled with sealed containers. He set the tray on his desk and opened the lid, removing one of the containers. "Will one be enough?" he asked.

The Question shook his head. "I need samples from each victim."

Nick nodded. "Sure thing," he said, removing six of the little containers. He transferred them into another case and handed it over.

"Thank you," the Question murmured. "I'd appreciate it if you would alert Amber if any more come in. And...forgetting I was ever here."

Nick nodded vigorously. "Of course."

"A pleasure meeting you Doctor Johnson. I'll show myself out." The Question turned and left the building quickly, eager to examine his samples. He would have to come back for the extra samples if Nick hadn't given him all of them. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be more samples coming. Once outside, he called for a transport and vanished from the dark streets.

END SCENE

"Thanks Oracle," Superman said. "We'll check it out right away." He cut the communication link and looked J'Onn. Oracle had just relayed reports that bloodless bodies had been turning up in Chicago over the past few days. Before they could discuss a course of action, the door to the monitor womb slid open and the Question entered, striding purposely toward them.

"He's in New York," the detective announced when he reached them.

"New York?" Superman exchanged a surprised look with J'Onn as the Question nodded. "Six bodies have been found over the past couple of weeks, all drained of blood. I was able to get DNA samples for each compliments of the city morgue and got the same results that I got off Jason Waters."

Superman glanced at J'Onn again before saying, "We just got off the line with Oracle. She's gotten reports of bodies being found in Chicago."

"Chicago?" Question repeated and Superman was sure an invisible eyebrow was being raised. "Hmm," the conspiracy theorist mused. "So the question is, which city hold the freshest kills?"

"We'll send groups to cover both cities," Superman decided and J'Onn added, "Those with flight abilities and powerful hearing would be best to send." He paused, then added, "And Flash."

Superman nodded. "Good idea. Flash could spend the night covering the ground of one city and I'll take the other. If he's in either one of them, we're bound to find him."

As the pair set to work on deciding who would go where, neither noticed the Question silently slip from the room.

END SCENE

"Ya know, I'm starting to think he's playing with us," John Stewart declared, gazing around the table at the other five. "New York, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Phoenix...he's bouncing all over the place. There doesn't seem to be any kind of pattern, just a lot of bodies with no blood."

"It's been nearly a month now," Superman said, pinching the bridge of his nose wearily. "We've got to figure something out here and now before we end up with wide spread panic on our hands."

"What about magic?" Flash suggested. "We haven't tried that yet. Zatanna's around here somewhere isn't she?"

"I had her try a location spell when the missions in Chicago and New York failed," J'Onn replied. "She was unsuccessful. As with my telepathy, she experienced a block as well. She and some of our other magic users are currently trying to find a way around whatever blocks them."

J'Onn suddenly stiffened, his eyes glowing brightly in the signal that he was using his mental abilities. The others exchanged surprised and concerned looks but said nothing, just watching for the moment.

When nearly five minutes had passed, Superman was about to try and bring his friend out of it when J'Onn relaxed, his eyes returning to normal as he wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. "J'Onn?" Superman questioned.

"The block came down," J'Onn explained. "But I was unable to reach him...or discover his location. There was an overwhelming amount of confusion and urgency. I'd never felt anything like it in him before. I was unable to break through it before the block returned."

Silence descended on the table, worry for Bruce increasing with J'Onn's statement. The silence was broken when Steel's voice came over the communication line. "Superman, sickbay is reporting that Jason Waters is awake."

"Thank you, Steel," Superman replied as everyone stood at once. "We're on our way."

Upon arriving in sickbay, the little group saw that Jason was, indeed, awake and sitting up. The color had returned to his cheeks and he looked healthy and alert, like nothing had ever happened. He was also eating like there was no tomorrow.

"He requested food the second he woke up," Julie, one of the medical personnel said as she came up them.

"How is he?" Superman asked.

"Well, he seems just fine," Julie answered. "All vitals are normal...he's perfectly healthy just as he was before he was attacked which, incidently, he doesn't remember."

J'Onn left his friends to talk with Julie and headed toward Jason. "Hello, Jason," he greeted, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

Jason smiled at him and gave a little wave, most of his attention focused on eating.

"I am glad to see you awake," J'Onn continued. "How do you feel?"

"Great," Jason replied around his food. "Starved."

J'Onn nodded. "Understandable. You've been in a coma for nearly a month now. Julie has told us you don't remember what happened."

Jason nodded his agreement, swallowed and said, "Yeah, last thing I remember was going downstairs to check the supply room. Next think I know, I'm waking up here, starving to death."

"Do you mind if I look inside your mind to make sure everything is all right?" J'Onn asked.

Jason gave him an uncertain look, then shrugged and nodded. "Okay."

J'Onn's eyes began glowing softly as he connected to Jason's mind and went inside for a tour. He examined the boy's mind carefully, eventually coming across the memory that eluded Jason of the events nearly a month ago. He gathered and analyzed the information that was there, then left the memory where it was. There was no need for the boy to remember the terrifying experience if he didn't have to. Once he was satisfied that everything seemed okay, he left Jason's mind, reached out and lightly touched the young man's arm. "Thank you, Jason. Enjoy your meal."

Jason smiled and continued wolfing down his food while J'Onn stood and went back to his friends, leading them into an outer room. "Well?" John asked.

"His mind seems to be all right," J'Onn answered. "I managed to find the memory of his attack. There is very little there that wasn't on the surveillance tape. Mostly the sounds of something rustling and the Batarang flying past him."

"So we're still left with no answers," Diana said, a frustrated note in her voice.

"The only thing we can do is keep chasing leads until one them finally takes us somewhere," John said.

"I will continue to monitor the block keeping me from Batman," J'Onn said. "Maybe if it goes down again, I will be able to reach him."

"In the meantime, we'll continue having groups patrol the cities that have been hit," Superman decided. "This can't possibly last much longer."

"Famous last words," Flash muttered as he glanced into the other room at Jason before following the others out.

END SCENE

He crouched in the darkness and covered himself with his cape to keep out the cold. It was more of a habit as it tended to cut wind resistance and camouflage better. He looked across the rooftop to see a refection of himself across the street staring back at him...about to end yet another brief lull that had appeared in their battle.

How long had he been fighting his twin...this imposter? Hours? Days? Weeks or even months? He didn't know. Time seemed to have lost all meaning...all control. But that didn't stop his body from screaming out its exhaustion in protest, demanding an end to this seemingly never ending battle. He would grant his body its wish. He would end this now...

As if in agreement the Batmen darted from their hiding places at the same time, meeting halfway and beginning another round of vicious blows. The moves were lightning quick, each switching from one form of martial arts to another in attempts to gain the upper hand. A number of times, Bruce came dangerously close to defeat, but somehow managed to escape and continue the fight, constantly trying to discover a way to beat his twin.

It wasn't until, laying on his back with the other on top of him, baring razor sharp fangs, that Bruce realized he had fangs of his own. Why he had fangs would have to be pondered later for an idea had come crashing through his head, screaming out a possible way to defeat his enemy.

He threw a punch, distracting the other just long enough to grab the stun gun from his utility belt. Turning it on high, he jammed the device into his twin's side and turned it on. A scream was ripped from his reflection's throat and Bruce wasted no time in pushing the other off him, reversing their positions and, before the imposter could recover, Bruce sank his fangs into the exposed neck...

With a yell, Batman sat bolt upright, eyes darting around in what was, at first, unfamiliar darkness. He struggled to bring his rapid breathing under control even as he tried to figure out where he was. Pushing himself to his feet, he spotted a computer terminal, a motor bike, a transporter and a first aid station. He wasn't home... he was in one of his many hideouts. But which one?

He stumbled over to the computer, collapsing in the chair and activating the locator. Los Angeles, California. What the hell was he doing in L.A.? He closed his eyes, fighting to remember what he had been doing that may have brought him there. The last thing he could remember, albeit hazily, was being up at the Watchtower looking for J'Onn. But why had he been looking for the Martian? Confusion and exhaustion were dominating his mind. It felt like he hadn't slept in months...like he had been fighting a constant uphill battle.

Battle. Why did that seem so important? Something was very seriously wrong, that was all he knew for certain at this point. The Tower...he had to get to the Tower. J'Onn could help...could tell him what was wrong.

Urgency and fear pushing him, he gathered his strength, got to his feet and stumbled over to the transporter. He had made sure all of his hideouts had a transporter, only allowing the rest of the league to know about a few of them. His vision going in and out of focus, it was a job just getting the coordinates put in but he finally felt the familiar and bizarre sensation of being pulled apart and put back together again as the machine activated and teleported him away from Earth to the base above it.

"Batman? Batman!" He opened eyes that he hadn't realized were closed and watched a blurry image of John Stewart running toward him.

"John..." He took a step toward his comrade, wondering why the floor seemed to be coming toward him so quickly. An arm stopped his descent as Green Lantern caught him, offering his support. Batman was barely aware of the other man barking out orders to the people around them. Darkness was closing in on him too quickly for him to fight. Darkness he was too tired to fight...

END SCENE

"Wally, would you please sit down? You're driving me nuts!" Shayera said from where she leaned against the wall, watching the speedster pace. She, Flash, Superman, Diana and John were in one of the waiting rooms, trying to be patient as they waited for J'Onn.

It was three in the morning. Nearly an hour earlier, they had all been roused from sleep on the emergency band by John, who had been pulling the night watch. They had all be shocked and relieved when told that Bruce had shown up and had been taken to one of the private medical rooms. The relief had turned to worry when they had gotten a look at him before being shooed away by J'Onn so the Martian could examine their comrade without distraction.

"I can't help it," Flash replied as he paused in his pacing. "I'm nervous. Bats disappears for over a month, then pops back up again looking like death itself..." he trailed off as the door to the medical room opened and J'Onn stepped out.

"He's sleeping," the Martian reported. "Probably will be for a while. He's physically and mentally exhausted...been fighting something, but I can't determine what yet."

"You haven't gone into his mind?" Diana asked and J'Onn shook his head.

"Just enough to know he's been fighting a seriously dangerous mental battle. Bruce's mind is...well, it's not something I wish to wander too far into without him being aware of me. When he wakes up, and after we have learned all we can about where he has been, I will do a thorough examination in his mind...with his permission of course. Until then, he should be kept here, under guard to ensure we do not lose him again."

"I'll stay with him," Superman said. "Go get some rest, J'Onn, you're probably going to need it."

J'Onn nodded his agreement and silently left, Flash, Shayera and John following at Superman's gesture for them to go. The man of steel looked at Diana, who had remained and said, "You should go back to bed, Diana. J'Onn said he'd probably be asleep for a while."

Diana shook her head as she pressed the button to open the door. "I couldn't if I wanted to," she said as she led the way in." She moved to the bed where Bruce lay and sat in the chair next to him, looking at him with deep worry in her eyes. "Besides, it's probably better if there are two of us here. You know how unpredictable he can be."

She frowned, reaching out to brush aside a piece of his hair. "Hera...I've never seen him look so awful. He looks so..."

"Human," Superman finished and Diana nodded. Having fought by the Batman's side for so long...having seen the things he had done, the odds he had faced and survived...she often forgot that he didn't have the gift of superpowers. He did not have immense super strength or fantastic speed or magical abilities. All he had were his wits and his willpower. But the way he used them...it was no wonder she often forgot that behind that mask, he was only human and from the look in Superman's eyes, it was obvious the Kryptonian thought the same.

They looked up at a knock on the door. "It's Question," Superman said as Diana grabbed Bruce's mask from nearby and slipped it over him. The Question probably already knew the Batman's identity, but she felt the mask should be on just the same.

"Yes Question, what is it?" Superman asked as the door slid open.

"Heard he was back," the Question answered, holding up a needle and a small vile. "Thought now would be a good time to get a blood sample since he's asleep and won't protest."

Diana's eyes darkened and she stood but Superman held up a hand, shaking his head. "He's right, Diana. His blood should be tested as well. Just in case whatever is wrong isn't in his head."

Diana pursed her lips and nodded, sitting back down and watching carefully as the Question entered the room, going around to the other side of the bed. He cleaned a little area of Bruce's arm, took the sample and stowed it in his coat pocket. He then gazed silently at Batman for a few seconds before turning and heading for the door. "I am glad to see he's alive at least," he said before leaving the room, the door sliding closed behind him.

Diana removed Bruce's mask, her hand lingering on his strangely cold cheek. 'Yeah,' She thought, 'Me too.'

END SCENE

It was almost five in the afternoon when J'Onn was summoned to the medical bay. Bruce was finally coming around and would hopefully be coherent enough to give them some answers. News of the Batman's early morning reappearance had spread fast and, after several dozen inquiries, J'Onn had sent out a telepathic message to the entire league, advising them of the Dark Knight's condition and that they did not yet know anything concerning where he had been for the last month. That had stopped the questions, but the curiosity was still thick in the air and gossip was steadily making its way throughout the Tower.

A couple of hours earlier, the Question had pulled J'Onn and Superman into a private room to show them the results of the blood test he had performed on Batman. J'Onn was grateful that the conspiracy theorist had brought the results to them in private when he saw the findings. The last thing they needed was more gossip flying around, especially considering how disturbing the results were. The unknown DNA source that had been present along with Batman's DNA on Jason Waters and on the bloodless bodies that had been found, was also present in Batman's blood test. Strongly. The question now was, what was inside Batman, and could they get rid of it.

J'Onn entered the room Bruce was being kept in and found the others scattered about the room, watching Diana coaxing Bruce awake. He stood at the foot of the bed and watched, lightly touching Bruce's mind and trying to sooth the confusion currently running wild within. It took a bit of time, but Bruce was finally brought into alertness, his eyes moving around the room as he asked, his voice rougher than normal, "Where am I?"

"You're in one of the private medical rooms," Superman answered.

Bruce's gaze moved to Superman and he asked, "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Superman answered, coming to stand next to where Diana sat, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Where have you been, Bruce? We've had the whole league looking for you for over a month."

Bruce frowned. "What are you talking about? Why would you have the whole league looking for me?"

"What is the last thing you remember?" J'Onn asked before anyone else could answer.

Bruce's frown deepened and J'Onn once more tried to smooth the waves of confusion rising up. Bruce closed his eyes and it was a long minute before he said, hesitantly, "The last thing I remember...I was talking with Diana. I...think I went looking for J'Onn and then...the next thing I know I'm waking up in my sanctuary in Los Angeles." He opened his eyes, revealing the confusion that currently dominated his mind. "I can't remember how I got there though."

Coming back to Superman's comment about having the whole League looking for him, Bruce's gaze moved Diana, a seldom seen look entering his eyes. Fear and vulnerability. Two things the Batman was a master at keeping hidden but was unable to this time. "Diana...how much time has passed since we last talked?"

"Over a month," Diana replied quietly. "That's how long you've been missing."

"What!" Bruce sat bolt upright, shock mixing with the confusion running through his mind. A month? How was that possible? What in the hell had he been doing for a whole month that he had no memory of?

J'Onn, without taking his gaze from Bruce, said, "Would you all leave us alone, please? This will be easier without an audience." He knew Bruce would be more likely to open up if they were alone.

Bruce looked up at J'Onn, who instantly felt a cold, dark suspicion and mistrust fly through the shock and confusion of the man's mind, disappearing almost as fast as it had come. "What will be easier?"

Diana gave a gentle, reassuring squeeze of Bruce's shoulder before vacating the chair, which J'Onn immediately took possession of. As the others left the room, the Martian tried to fill Bruce's mind with reassurance. "There is something wrong, you know this, do you not? The day you spoke with Diana, you had come up here to seek my assistance. Do you remember that?"

Bruce ran an agitated hand through his hair, searching his scattered memories. It was another full minute before recognition filled his startled eyes and he nodded. "Yes..." He closed his eyes, pressing a hand to his head. "I think something's in my head...making me feel and think ludicrous things." He paused, then added, "And I keep having the same nightmare night after night." He opened his eyes and frowned. "At least I was. I can't remember anything about the last month so I can't confirm if it's still coming."

"What is the dream about?" J'Onn asked, adding a little more strength to his calming efforts on Bruce's mind.

"I'm on a rooftop watching the city," Bruce replied slowly and carefully as he recalled the events of the dream. "I decide to go to another area so I head for the next roof but I'm not using my grapple gun. I'm have wings just like a bat and I'm flying. I hear a scream and look down to see a couple getting mugged. I follow the mugger to an alley and rough him up a little and then..." He stopped speaking, staring off into space as he replayed the last part of the dream over and over in his mind's eye.

"And then what?" J'Onn pressed, giving Bruce a gentle, mental nudge.

A tremor slipped through Bruce's body as he answered quietly, "As soon as I've terrified him enough...I drink his blood." He turned haunted eyes on the Martian. "What's happening to me, J'Onn?"

"That's what we're going to try and find out," J'Onn answered. "I'm going to go inside your mind now. Something is there that does not belong. I will find it and remove it."

Bruce nodded and lay back down as J'Onn closed his eyes to gather the energy he would need to have a thorough look inside his friend's mind. When he was ready, he opened his eyes, which now glowed brightly as he connected with Bruce's mind. He moved through the mental doorway that had been opened, and fully entered the mental realm of the Batman.

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, here we go! Finally! There is a possibility of some more work being done on this part, but for now, here it is.

Josette: LOL! Thanks! I think I like seeing Bats possessed too ;)

Superfan and Phoenix87: Hope this meets your expectations :)

PART 6

J'Onn had visited many minds during his time on Earth. Some had been calm and peaceful while others had been...unpleasant. Batman's mind, however, went beyond unpleasant. Fierce cold and deep foreboding were the dominant factors in the atmosphere. The first warning to interlopers that this was not a place they wanted to be. To aid in that warning, shadowy figures with glowing red eyes darted about the room, hissing and projecting fear in efforts to drive the visitor out. It made proceeding difficult, especially if one did not move on quickly and that was just the front hall of the Batman's mind. What lay beyond the single door in front of J'Onn was the reason the Martian never went far in this particular mind.

Ignoring the hissing shadows and the growing fear, J'Onn opened the door and stepped into the second and final warning for visitors to get out while they still could unharmed. Before him lay the twisted maze that was the Batman's mind. Immense rage and terrible sadness were so thick in the air, it was difficult for J'Onn to keep them from effecting him and pulling him down into a bottomless pit of despair. Later, when his mission was complete, he would need to meditate for several hours to purge himself of the distress he knew would be inflicted upon him. Taking a deep breath, J'Onn entered the maze.

And just barely managed to avoid a very large, angry looking bat. He ducked as it blew past him and watched it turn and soar back toward him, mouth open in an angry scream, showing many razor sharp teeth that J'Onn was fairly certain could bite clean through whatever they latched onto. J'Onn quickly prepared to defend himself but, as he watched, the bat suddenly shrank to the normal size of an adult bat and zipped past him into the darkness. J'Onn turned his gaze to where it had disappeared to and watched as a small, hooded figured melted out of the shadows, the bat resting on its shoulder.

"Sorry," the figure said in a voice that somehow managed to sound very young and very old at the same time. It turned and began to walk along the dark, stony corridor. "Come. Watch your surroundings carefully and step only where I step. The traps tend to move."

J'Onn hesitated for a couple of seconds before following, following his guide's instructions to the letter. The last thing he wanted to do was fall into an unconscious trap. Progress was slow, but was being made at least as J'Onn was led to rooms he was able to investigate throughly while his guide held back any threats that loomed in them. Threats such as giant bats who hung around the rooms, watching his every movement and giving the impression that they would eat him if give half the chance. Needless to say, J'Onn was grateful Bruce's mind had presented him with a guide.

As he explored, he learned a great deal about his dark friend and his past. He learned all about Bruce's travels around the world, the people he had met and the things he had done in his quest to become what he was today. Several of the rooms held more than just memories and threats. Many of them housed manifestations of the different sides to Bruce's personality. Some vanished when he entered the room, others watched him silently and a few engaged him in conversation.

Curiosity in particular kept J'Onn in one room longer than the others, keen to learn all it could about J'Onn and his dead people and how great Mars once was. As much as the last Martian would have liked to have shared all he could with his friend, he had a mission to complete and, after nearly an hour with Curiosity, was forced to take his leave and continue on.

The deeper J'Onn went, the younger Bruce became in the memories he encountered and the stronger the despair became, too. A few times, J'Onn was forced to stop so he could concentrate on pushing the sensations away from him. It was getting increasingly difficult and he had a particularly hard time when he entered the room that depicted that fateful night so long ago when an eight year child was plunged into a world of darkness that would consume his life.

He watched the scene play out, struggling to keep his emotions in check at the heart wrenching cries that filled the night. Trying to ignore the overpowering stench of blood, J'Onn examined the room for anything that didn't belong. When he finished, he turned to leave and spotted his guide, kneeling in the blood in the spot where the eight year old Bruce had been, scooping up blood and watching it fall through gnarled fingers. One of the bloody hands disappeared beneath the hood, emerging a few seconds later to gather more blood. The second mutilated hand joined the first and both disappeared beneath the hood, pushing it back as he drenched himself.

When J'Onn saw his guide's twisted face, he knew immediately who it was and was stunned. His guide was the manifestation of Bruce Wayne's Innocence! Innocence that had not been lost or destroyed that night as J'Onn would have expected, but changed...mutilated and contaminated with everything that should never have been able to touch it. Remade into the force that continued to drive Bruce in his mission...not allowing him to let it go and move on to live a normal life.

Eyes that looked like they had seen every horror imaginable and then some were slowly turned on J'Onn who picked up a distinct threat gathering quickly in air. Then, as quickly as it had come, it vanished, as did his guide. Turning quickly toward the door, J'Onn found the little figure standing next to it, hood drawn back up, hands hidden once again in the sleeves. Without a word, the former Innocence opened the door and moved through it, forcing J'Onn to follow quickly as the threat level shot up again. He stayed silent as he followed, knowing now was not the time to contemplate on the discovery of who his guide was. He could do that later.

The atmosphere was getting colder and more foreboding if that was at all possible. Rounding a corner, they came up on two more manifestations sitting on the floor, haggard and one of them wounded. Strength and Courage, J'Onn identified as he drew closer. Strength was the wounded one, which didn't surprise J'Onn considering the battle he had been aware of having taken place.

"Are you all right?" he asked as the pair looked up. He knelt next to Strength, taking in his wounds.

"Been better," Strength replied, wincing as he shifted positions. His breathing was labored and J'Onn sensed grave internal injuries

"Allow me to ease your pain," J'Onn said, placing a gentle hand on Strength's shoulder, eyes glowing softly. Slowly, Strength's breathing eased and the wounds became less gruesome both inside and out. When he had given Strength all he dared, he pulled back and asked, "Do you know where the intruder is?"

"Somewhere up ahead," Courage answered and J'Onn nodded, standing. Courage stood as well and gripped J'Onn's arm. "Be careful, J'Onn. It tends to come out of nowhere and it's the most vicious thing I've ever seen." He looked down as Strength, then added, "We'll join you once Strength is able."

J'Onn nodded, gripped Courage's arm, then continued onward, following his guide. It was nearly ten minutes later when another door appeared at the end of the corridor they currently traveled in, this one different from the others. Bars of energy prevented it from being opened by just anyone and two large bats hung on either side, screeching out warnings as his guide turned down another hall, passing it by.

Frowning, J'Onn stopped at the door, watching as his guide kept going. "Wait," he called.

The little form stopped and turned slightly before saying, "The intruder would not be there. And you don't want to go in there."

"I must," J'Onn replied, looking up at the bats warily. "Please, open it. I don't wish to use force if I don't need to."

There was a moment of silence before his guide said quietly, "Very well." He turned and raised a hand and the energy bars protecting the door vanished, giving J'Onn access. "Remember, I warned you," his guide said as J'Onn reached out to open the door, causing the Martian to pause and glance over at the little manifestation.

Knowing he had no choice, J'Onn gripped the handle, opened the door and was assaulted by an atmosphere far worse than what he had encountered so far. The feelings of rage, despair and torment felt a hundred times worse here and J'Onn dropped to one knee with a soft whimper. Gathering all the strength he could find, he strengthened his shield and forced the feelings back to a point where he could stand and look around.

The room was smaller than the others and a lot harder to see in through the thick fog that dominated it. J'Onn looked at his guide who raised one of his small, mutilated hands, bringing the fog down to hug the floor, allowing the Martian a better view. Unlike the other rooms, which housed various parts of Bruce's personality or memories, this room housed hundreds of giant and small bats. Some swooped down at him while they all screamed angry warnings at him, making an almost deafening noise that stopped when his guide again raised his hand.

In one corner of the room, protected by anther set of energy bars with bats hanging all over it, was a stone slap with a figure on it. J'Onn cautiously approached, fighting back the urge to be sick the closer he got. When he was able to see what the room and the bats protected, he drew in a sharp breath. It was another manifestation, bound tightly in chains and lost in deep, deep sleep. It oozed with all the negative aspects a human could possess and then some. This was Bruce's pure dark side...his evil side.

J'Onn had visited minds that contained pretty intense dark sides, but Bruce's...because of all that had happened, all the terrible things he had witnessed before and during his time as the Batman, it had made his dark side worse. The Gods help them all if this ever got loose for here lay the potential for the Batman to become one of the most terrible, feared monsters the world had ever known. At least it was well protected, he observed as he glanced at the agitated bats. If anyone or anything tried to set this free, they'd have a lot to contend with.

As there was nothing there that didn't belong, J'Onn decided it was time to get out and continue the search. There wasn't much left. Whatever was there, he was closing in on it. He felt better once out of the room and, as soon as the door was resealed, the pair continued on.

It was close to an hour later when they finally found it. Or rather, it found them. They had entered a small, circular room with entrance ways to two other halls when, from out of nowhere like Courage had warned, a black shape blind sided J'Onn, slamming him into a far wall. He recovered quickly and looked up to find a black form with one red eye and one yellow snarling at him and showing razor sharp fangs.

"Get out!" It screeched in a hideously high voice. "It's mine! Get out!"

"This mind is not yours," J'Onn said as he stood, noting that his guide had disappeared, which was probably for the best considering how disastrous it would be if this thing got a hold of him. "You do not belong here," J'Onn continued. "It is you who needs to get out." His eyes began glowing as he prepared to attack. "Go back to the hell you've come from, Demon," he warned, "you will not win this battle."

"It's mine!" the Demon screamed again in reply and attacked.

J'Onn met the attack head on and a vicious battle began. The Demon fought savagely and J'Onn knew he would be in for some heavy healing mediation when it was over. It was the one of the most difficult fights he had ever been in. The Demon was exceedingly fast and fond of using its fangs and long claws to bite and rip at him, leaving him with serious wounds of his own. But he was a Martian warrior and there was no way he was going to lose to some hell spawn and allow his friend to be taken from him.

So, despite his growing number of wounds, J'Onn fought as hard as he could, drawing on Bruce's own energies to aid him. After what felt like an eternity, he finally sensed the Demon weakening and it was at that point that he felt the energies of Strength and Courage touch him, giving him an opportunity to end the fight. Drawing together all the energies he could find, he forged a massive assault and let it rip, crashing into the Demon in a great wave, pulling a terrible scream from the enemy as it dissolved and vanished in the great light.

J'Onn sank to his knees in exhaustion, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, pain coursing through him. In all appearances, he had just won the battled, but he had to be sure. He would have to search the remaining areas to be sure it hadn't simply fled.

"J'Onn."

He looked up to find Strength and Courage standing a few feet away, both looking a little less haggard than they had been, along with a third manifestation, Honor. "It's all right," Strength said as the trio approached and knelt down next to him. "It's gone. We felt it die," he reassured. J'Onn felt his pain ease as they returned his earlier favor.

Honor, who was in front of J'Onn and sporting wicked injuries of his own, reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Thank you, my friend," he said. "We can repair the damage now. Return to your own body and heal..."

There was flash of light and J'Onn blinked, finding himself back in his own body, Bruce sleeping deeply in the bed beneath him. He groaned as pain made itself known and sagged as darkness threatened to close in.

"J'Onn?"

He forced himself to look up and found Superman and Flash standing in the doorway, a look of relief in Superman's eyes.

"Is it over?" Flash asked as the pair entered the room and looked down at Bruce.

J'Onn nodded wearily. "Some kind of Demon," he murmured. "It's gone." His gaze moved back to Bruce. "He'll sleep for a day or two and following that, he should be kept here for a few days for observation. By force if necessary, just to be safe."

Superman put a concerned hand on J'Onn's shoulder. "You okay? You were in there for five hours."

"I will be," J'Onn answered and moved to stand, only to sink back down into the chair again with a soft moan.

Flash zipped over to J'Onn's side and took his arm. "Come on big guy, let's get you into that bed in the other room."

"No," J'Onn protested as Superman took his other arm. "My quarters."

Superman looked at Wally and nodded. "I've got him, Flash. Diana asked to be alerted when it was over. Would you do that, please?"

Wally nodded and Superman helped J'Onn from the room and to his own quarters. "Do you need anything?" the Kryptonian asked as J'Onn sank down on his bed.

"If you could see that I am not disturbed for at least the next twenty four hours..."

Superman smiled and nodded. "Of course. Get some rest." Turning, the Man of Steel left the Martian's quarters and J'Onn began to heal.

Five days later:

Bruce lay in the infirmary bed, staring vacantly at the clock above the big screen T.V. Two-thirty in the morning. He was restless and, strangely, nervous. He had slept for two and half days following J'Onn's walkabout in his mind and hadn't felt very well since awakening. J'Onn had told him he had found some kind of Demon roaming his mind and, while he was confident in its destruction, wanted Bruce to stay in the Tower for a few days for close observation.

The Martian and Clark had teamed up on him, threatening to have Zatanna cast a spell to keep him in the room if he didn't give his word of honor that he would remain in the Tower until they were satisfied that he was all right. Knowing full well that they would do it, Bruce had grudgingly given his word and had been under constant watch ever since.

While it did annoy him to no end, he also felt it was a good idea. There was a sense of expectation in the air that he didn't really understand. Some force at work that gave the impression that whatever had happened to him...whatever was going on, it wasn't over yet.

Hungry.

All of a sudden he was starving, like he hadn't eaten in weeks. He had awakened to Clark leaving the room about a half an hour ago to deal with something going on in the monitor womb and had not yet come back. Considering he wasn't a prisoner and refusing to be treated like one, Bruce decided a trip to the cafeteria was an order.

Donning his cape and cowl, he slipped silently from sick bay, easily evading the attention of the few medical staff and moved through the empty hallways toward the cafeteria. Noise in the Rec. Room drew his attention and looking in the doorway, he found Flash parked in front of the TV, junk food all around him. Almost before he knew it, he had slipped inside, the door sliding shut behind him.

He stood in the shadows, simply watching for a moment before saying, "Slacking off again, Wally?"

A startled exclamation escaped Flash's lips and he jumped from the couch, whirling around to see who had gotten the drop on him. When he saw Batman, he relaxed a bit, putting a hand over his heart and saying, "Geez Bats! You trying to give me a heart attack?" "Sorry," Batman replied, his tone mocking and amused.

Flash gave him a dirty look. "Yeah right. You live to scare the crap out of people." He paused, then asked, "What are you doing out of sick bay? Does Big Blue know you're out?"

Batman bared his teeth just enough in annoyance that Flash took an involuntary step back, watching his teammate carefully.

"Contrary to what he believes, Clark isn't my mother. I'm hungry. Last time I checked, I didn't need his permission to go to the kitchen."

Flash held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, take it easy, no need to get upset. I just wondered is all. He's worried about you and you know how he gets when he's worried."

The speedster paused and glanced around at the empty wrappers and cartons. Within seconds, they were gone and Flash was next to the door, grinning at him. "I need a trip to the kitchen myself. Come on."

Batman regarded him for a few seconds before nodding shortly and following the younger man out.

Twenty minutes later found Batman eating like there was no tomorrow and Flash watching him in amazement. Never in all the time they had worked together had Wally ever seen the Bat eat like that. It was actually rather impressive considering the bottomless pit Wally's stomach was. He was tempted to take pictures and probably would have if not for the fear that the Bat would break the camera over his head.

"Boy, you are hungry aren't ya?" he commented after nearly forty minutes of non stop eating.

Batman stopped and stared at the plate of pasta as though seeing it for the first time. This wasn't what he wanted, it wasn't even satisfying his hunger. Looking around the table at the empty plates, he realized that none of the foods he had consumed had done anything for him. He was still starving, like he hadn't eaten a single bite of anything...

"Bats?" He looked up to find Wally looking at him in concern. "You okay?"

He stared at his teammate for a long moment, contemplating the question. No, he wasn't all right. He was still famished and eating wasn't doing anything. Perhaps J'Onn was right to still be concerned.

Pushing his plate away, he stood and murmured a quiet, "Good night, Wally," before turning and leaving the kitchen.

He wandered the Tower halls, not interested in returning to sick bay yet. He passed by the quarters of League members, pausing at the doors to listen for moment inside before moving on. Rounding a corner, he caught sight of Flash entering his own room for the night. He moved up to the door as it slid shut and stood, listening to the movement on the other side.

The strange urge to enter gripped him, along with a strange sense of Deja voo. Somehow, the answer to his questions lay beyond this door. Which sounded utterly ridiculous. How could Wally have the answers? He should go talk to J'Onn, he'd be of more help than Wally. Wouldn't he?

He felt a sudden surge of distaste at the thought of the Martian which made him frown. He had no reason to feel ill will toward his alien friend, so where had that come from?

He turned to leave, stopped and turned back, the urge to enter soaring and overwhelming him to the point that he hadn't even realized he had given the override command to open Wally's door until he was inside with the door shut behind him.

He stayed perfectly still, eyes searching the dimly lit room as he wondered what the hell he was doing and why the action seemed to familiar, like he had committed a similar act recently. His attention was drawn to the bathroom when he heard running water and Wally quietly singing to himself.

A strange, foggy sensation filled his mind, bringing with it dark intentions that overrode his other senses. Without a sound, Batman crossed the room and pressed up against he wall next to the bathroom, a tiny stun gun slipping into his hand. As soon as Wally started to leave the bathroom, Batman grabbed his arm and, in one fluid motion, pulled and slammed him into the wall, pressed a hand to his mouth and the gun into his ribs, letting loose a high voltage of electricity.

Wally's eyes were wide with pain and fear and he let out a muffled scream before going limp in Batman's grip. Driven by an unknown force, Batman dropped the gun, jerked Wally forward and sank the newly emerged fangs into the young man's neck.

His eyes widened and his body jerked in reaction as it finally received what it had wanted...needed all this time. The fog filling his mind surged upward and the old Batman was dragged down far beneath it while a new Bat emerged to take his place. A new Bat that would bring terror to the world like none had before and would bring the League to its knees...

Becoming aware that he was about to take too much from Wally, Batman released him allowing the boy to crumple to the floor and basking in the new power that rushed through his veins. He looked down at Wally and, with a cold smile, picked him up and put him in his bed. The speedster would be the first of his servants...his favored as he had been the one to set him free.

That fool Martian had actually believed he had succeeded in stopping his transformation. All he had really done was fallen into a trap that had yet to be sprung. All it would take was a few minutes in his presence to activate the surprise that would force J'Onn to keep his telepathy to himself, thus allowing Batman to operate freely...

Stopping to grab his stun gun, Batman slipped from the room and headed back to the infirmary, meeting Superman along the way who expressed his concern that the Dark Knight was roaming the halls instead of resting.

"Relax Kent," Batman said, letting his annoyance seep into his voice. "I went for something to eat and a walk. That doesn't fall into the category of leaving the Tower."

"You ate?" Clark seemed delighted at the news as Bruce's appetite had been non existent and cause for concern since waking up. If he was eating, then that meant he was getting better. A look at his friend's face lent support to that theory. The color was returning and his eyes looked more alert. Still...

"What did you eat?" he asked as casually as he could.

"Pasta, among other things."

Pasta. A look at the security cameras would verify that. Superman smiled. "Sounds like you've just taken a big leap to recovery. J'Onn will probably release you any day now so you can go back to terrorizing thugs in Gotham."

A little smirk crossed Batman's lips as he nodded. Superman had no idea of the terror that was coming...the terror that would result in his death. It was shame, really, that he would not be bringing the last Kryptonian over to serve him in the new world. But, the Man of Steel was far too unpredictable when under the influence of darkness and unpredictability was not something to be tolerated. He would have to die. His cousin too. A shame, but he would still enjoy killing the boy scout nevertheless.

Upon arriving back at the medical bay, they found Shayera in the main examination room, having her dislocated shoulder put back in place.

"Training program," was all she would say at Superman's concerned look. She made a noise of pain then growled which made the medic tending her take a nervous step back.

Batman smirked inwardly as he watched her. Strong and beautiful with a bloodlust simply begging to be released...He realized, suddenly, that she would make a perfect mate...a perfect queen to rule by his side. He would take her next, before anymore of the others but after he took care of J'Onn.

"Batman?" His gaze moved to Superman, who was looking at him in concern. They both were, actually. "You okay? You kinda zoned out there."

Batman nodded shortly. "I'm fine. Goodnight." Turning, he disappeared into the private room he had been using and settled down into the first good rest he'd had in ages.

END SCENE

Something was wrong, but J'Onn couldn't pin down what it was. He had just come from checking on Bruce and, while he was ecstatic at the sudden good turn his friend had taken, something still didn't seem right. The part of the mental link he kept Bruce on seemed colder than usual, which contradicted all the other signals that things were going well. Perhaps it was a side effect to the Demon he had destroyed, if it had, indeed been destroyed as the manifestations claimed. Maybe it would go away as Bruce recovered more fully. And maybe he should take another trip into Bruce's mind, just to be sure.

A red blur suddenly streaked past him, returning less than a second later and materializing into a widely grinning Flash. "Hey big guy! You hungry? You look hungry, you should come eat with me, you've got time before monitor duty."

J'Onn raised an eye ridge. Was it just him or was Wally more hyperactive than usual? Before he could reply, Flash was dragging him into the cafeteria and to the buffet table. Well, he was hungry and Wally was generally good company...

Grabbing a tray, J'Onn picked up his lunch and joined Wally at a table in the back. He filled the speedster in on Batman's condition while they ate, but didn't tell his young friend his concerns. Flash was delighted at the news, expressing his hopes that things would be getting back to normal now.

While Wally rambled on, J'Onn began to pick up on something. A strange ripple of sorts along the link. Frowning, he felt along the link and was startled when the coldness he had felt on Batman's part of it also popped up on Wally's. He attempted to probe deeper and hissed when pain shot through his head, causing him to jump to his feet much to Wally's surprise.

"J'Onn? You okay?" he dimly heard his friend ask through the haze that was starting to fill his mind. Gathering his focus, he pushed the pain and haze away, only to be immediately assaulted by hundreds of mental voices. Somehow, the barriers had broken down, leaving nothing to prevent the thoughts of everyone on the Tower from slamming into him. Mass confusion ran rampant within him now, pain close on its heals and he never realized that the screams that penetrated his senses were his own. An eternity passed and then darkness finally claimed him.

tbc...


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

"J'Onn? J'Onn, can you hear me?"

The voice was soft, strong and familiar, but he couldn't quite place who it belonged to. Or find the strength to answer it. Instead, he listened as the voice sighed and another familiar one said, "Diana, Zatanna said it would be a while before he came to. Whatever attacked him in the cafeteria was vicious."

"I know, Wally," the first voice, Diana, replied. Another sigh escaped her and she added, "At least he didn't disappear on us like Bruce. I don't think I could handle the stress of that again."

He didn't hear Wally's reply as the darkness carried him back into oblivion.

****************************

It was soft humming that finally penetrated the darkness he had been floating in for an unknown amount of time. Part of him was tempted to ignore it and just continue floating, safe and secure in the empty, painless abyss, but another part argued that he had something important to tell….something to investigate….

With a sigh of regret, he followed the soft humming, slowly returning to the world of consciousness where feelings of discomfort and confusion resided. He was laying on something soft, he discovered, and the humming was coming from somewhere on his right.

It was a chore to open his eyes and, when he finally managed it, it was another job getting his vision to focus. Once that was successful, he slowly turned his head to the right and located the source of the humming. Superman sat next to him, his attention focused on a computer readout as he hummed absently to himself.

"Kal." His voice came out a whisper, but caught Superman's attention instantly.

"J'Onn!" The Man of Steel smiled, relief dominate in his eyes and voice. "Good to see you awake. You really had us worried for a while. How do you feel?"

J'Onn frowned, not sure how to answer that question just yet. He felt weak, but not really in pain aside from a mild ache in his head. His gaze left Superman and traveled the room he was in, quickly discovering it was one of the med labs. He also discovered he was in his natural form.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice still a whisper.

"We're not sure," Superman answered. "We think something attacked you in the Cafeteria. Wally and Zatanna both seemed to think you lost control of your telepathy."

Vague recollection passed through J'Onn's sluggish mind. Memory of eating lunch with Wally and then pain and utter chaos. His barriers crumbling and all those thoughts crashing into him….

Doing an internal scan, he found all his barriers back in place, as though nothing had happened. As if there was no reason for him to be laying on this bed in the med lab, feeling as though he had just been through the fight of his life.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Going on seventeen hours," Superman replied, glancing at the clock. "Shayera and Wally just left. Wally was pretty freaked out, he'd never seen you like that before."

Wally. There was something important there….something he needed to remember…. _Come on, think! Need to get rid of this fog…._

Superman had been quietly watching his friend attempt to work things out and now, putting a gentle hand on the other's shoulder, said, "You should get some rest, J'Onn. We can figure out what happened when your head is clearer."

J'Onn wanted to protest…wanted to remember what he had forgotten, but the fog in his head simply would not part and his body was adding its own complaints. Knowing he would not win the argument, he sighed and gave in, allowing sleep to claim him.

***********************

The link to Flash had been cold, he remembered, just like the link to Bruce. It was just as he had made that discovery that things had gone crazy and caused him to end up in the med lab. But what had caused it? Where had the coldness come from? Why had it still been with Bruce and how had it moved to Wally?

In his quest for answers, he had decided to check the others, moving along the link to John but, when he attempted to touch his friend's mind, pain ripped through his head and his barriers threatened to collapse again. Alarmed, J'Onn stopped his attempt, which stopped the pain almost immediately and his barriers resumed their strength. Again, as though nothing had happened. A second attempt ended in the same result.

It was a highly agitated Martian Manhunter who Superman, Diana and Flash encountered in sickbay when they responded to a call from the medical staff, who had no idea how to handle him. He was huddled up in a corner, still in his natural form, rocking slightly and rambling in what they could only assume was Martian.

"J'Onn?" Diana questioned, kneeling down on one side of him while Superman took the other, each lightly touching a shoulder. "J'Onn!" she repeated more sharply when she got no response.

J'Onn's movements stopped and he grew quiet, staring at nothing. It was only when Diana called his name for the third time, did he turn his large eyes on her, an expression of surprise crossing his face as though he had not been aware of their presence at all.

"J'Onn, what's happening?" Superman asked, keeping his voice soft in an attempt not to startle his friend.

J'Onn turned his gaze away from Diana and back to where it had been, silent for a moment before answering. "Pain. I cannot touch anyone's mind without feeling terrible pain. And the link…the link is so cold. I had to dissolve it. My abilities…."

The trio looked at each other in concern and Wally said, "It must be from whatever attacked him in the Cafeteria."

"We should call John," Diana suggested. "His Ring may be able to discover the source of the problem. And perhaps Zatanna as well."

Superman nodded in agreement and, while Diana called for John and Zatanna over the comm. link, he helped J'Onn up and back into the bed. When John and Zatanna arrived, he and Diana filled the pair in on the situation and, while they were all busy examining the Martian, Wally slipped out unnoticed.

He zipped to the other side of the Tower and to the quarters that had been assigned to Batman, knocking shortly and entering at the command. Batman was sitting at his computer, working on something and Wally dropped to one knee, head bowed as he waited to be acknowledged.

After a moment, Batman's low voice murmured, "Report."

"J'Onn's a mess, my Master," Wally replied. "He's just reported that he can't touch other minds without extreme pain. John and Zatanna were trying to find the source of the problem when I left."

"They won't find anything. Good, the Martian is out of the way, but keep an eye on him regardless. He can be persistent and I don't want him breaking through too soon."

Wally nodded. "Yes, my Lord. Do you have any further orders?"

There was a short pause and then Batman replied, "Shayera will be in training room B tonight. I will be with her. Make sure we aren't disturbed."

"Yes, my Lord."

Receiving a dismissal, Wally zipped from the room, leaving his Dark Knight alone with his plans.

*************************

"HA!" Shayera cried out as she ripped through a training droid like it was paper, dodging a another and blocking a lazer shot with her mace. She'd been in the room for about thirty minutes now, trying to beat down her worry over the newest situation involving her comrades. First Batman with his apparent possession and now J'Onn had an unknown force attacking his telepathic abilities. She had to wonder if they weren't being targeted by someone. It wouldn't be the first time…

She blinked when she suddenly realized she was no longer being attacked. What, had she run out of droids already?

"I'm working on replenishing the stock," said a voice from the doorway.

Shayera turned and found Batman, leaning against the wall, watching her. "The League has been going through them faster than the army can make them," he added.

"Ah," Shayera replied, moving over to a panel in the wall and turning the simulation off. "Anything new about J'Onn?" she asked, grabbing her towel and water bottle and moving to sit on the bench that had slid out.

"No," came the simple answer.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, watching as he began to prowl the room. _'This mystery with J'Onn must be driving him crazy.' _

"Restless."

Shayera tipped her head, eyes narrowing a little. "So why aren't you down in Gotham beating the stuffing out of thugs? Haven't you been cleared to leave the Tower yet?"

"It's surprisingly slow down there," Batman replied. "Batgirl has been taking care of things well. Came back up here looking for you."

Shayera raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Me?"

He nodded, turning his gaze on her, though she couldn't see what expression his eyes held. "I know you like to train this time of night. Thought I'd challenge you to sparing match."

A smile touched Shayera's lips. "Boy, you really *must* be itching." She regarded him for a moment, taking a drink of her water before setting it aside and standing. "All right," she said with a smirk, moving to the center of the room. "Let's play."

Batman took up position a few feet away, wearing a smirk of his own. They bowed, took stances, then she launched the first attack.

She had to admit, sparing with the Bat was rather fun. Being a master fighter, he kept her on her toes, kept her thinking and, in some ways, was better than the training simulators.

At one point, though, perhaps twenty minutes into the match, strange things began to happen. Somewhere along the line, he had lowered his lenses, allowing her to see his bright blue eyes which contained a strange darkness she had never seen in them before. A darkness that seemed to…call to her. The atmosphere seemed to have changed too, and she was starting to find it difficult to concentrate, especially with those eyes that seemed to be looking straight through her.

The feelings only worsened when, breaking through her defenses, he swept her feet out from under her and pinned her down, breathing quickly from the workout as he stared into her eyes. Her own breathing was labored as well, though whether it was from the sparring or….something else remained to be seen.

Something told her that it was time to call it a night. Something that another part of her protested as he drew a little closer to her. But that voice that told her to leave was just a little stronger and, with the fog that had been starting to cloud her mind suddenly lifting, she shifted positions and threw the Bat off her.

"Well, that was fun, Bruce," she said as they climbed to their feet, trying not to show him how wary she suddenly was. "I think I'm going to call it a night, though. Do some meditation exercises before bed."

An odd little smirk crossed Batman's lips, one that increased her wariness. She resisted the urge to back up as he approached her, eyes still revealed. She was a Thanagarian warrior after all, she would not bow to intimidation!

"Good match," he breathed in her ear, then swept past her and out of the room.

'_What was that about?' _she thought, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Deciding she needed a nice, hot shower, she grabbed her towel and water bottle and hurried for her quarters.

In the shower, she couldn't stop thinking about Bruce and their match. Or rather, Bruce's *eyes.* She couldn't seem to get her mind off of them and the strange, compelling darkness they held…

By the time she got out of the shower, she was fighting with the urge to go find him and…what? Ask him why she was suddenly so attracted to him? Why she couldn't stop thinking about his eyes? She left the bathroom, shaking her head at how ridiculous she was being and caught movement in the shadows out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's there?" she demanded, turning quickly to face the intruder and drawing in a breath of surprise as Batman detached himself from the shadows. "Bruce!" she exclaimed, relaxing her stance. "What are you….?"

She trailed off as he approached her, removing his cowl in the process. He, too, had showered; she could smell the soap and conditioner in his hair as he stopped just inches away from her, those eyes once again staring into hers.

Her mind was getting hazy, and she couldn't seem to look away.... His hand came up and gently touched her cheek before he closed the little distance between them, pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss that slowly deepened until she lost herself in the feelings and sensations he created. She didn't even noticed when he lifted her up and carried her to her bed, laying her down gently and continuing to elicit wonderful, lustful feelings from her body.

It was after the first few minutes that he had joined them together, that warning bells crashed through the euphoria she had been engulfed in. Something was wrong, and she tried to communicate the fact to her surprising bedmate.

"B-Bruce...wait, stop. Something...."

A gasp was torn from her lips and her body stiffened, her eyes going wide as she felt something razor sharp penetrate her neck. Bruce's movements quickened at the same time that a wave of darkness washed over her. She thought she heard a scream, and then nothing.

He lay next to her, watching her sleep. He could feel her changing.....becoming his. It wasn't safe to keep her in the Tower, especially since she would sleep until the new night, and he didn't want to risk anyone discovering her condition. The cave would be much safer. He dressed himself before putting his new queen back in her night clothes before silently summoning Flash.

"Get her down to the cave," he ordered, passing her into the speedster's arms. I'll be right behind you."

Flash nodded and took off for the transporter in the Dark Knight's quarters. Batman followed, arriving in the cave a few minutes later. He moved to the bed Flash had placed Shayera on, sitting down on the edge and gently taking her hand. He gazed at her almost adoringly, continuing to feel the changes taking place inside her, and thinking of all that they would accomplish together. She would be just like him. Craving the life blood of mere mortals to sustain her immortal life. Yet...she would also be different in that she would not have to go through the same awakening he'd had to. The connection he had established would see to that. When she rose from her slumber, she would be fully aware of who and what she was. And of who he was. As would the rest of his clan when the time came to take them as well.

A smile spread across his lips. Few would be able to resist the change that was coming. And those who could....would make a fine meal indeed.

He was working intently on the computer when he felt her start to awaken. Leaving the system, he moved over to the bed and sat on the edge, reaching out and touching her cheek as her eyes slowly opened. She gazed up at him, her mind lazily drifting out and caressing his as she got her bearings. "Wow," she murmured after a moment, a smile playing on her lips. "What a night."

She sat up and paused, sniffing the air, a hungry look entering her eyes. Excellent. Wordlessly, Batman rose and headed for a far corner. Hidden in the darkness, weak and terrified, was a young woman. Flash, having anticipated that his mistress would need to feed immediately upon awakening, and that his master would not want to leave her to hunt, had taken the liberty of catching something for them.

Grabbing the woman, he dragged her into the light, watching Shayera's eyes fill with predatory delight. The woman had been bound and gagged, blood still trailing down her neck from when he had fed on her earlier. A growl escaped Shayera's lips, and the woman's eyes widened as the Thanagarian pounced on her, taking her to the floor and viciously penetrating her neck, drinking greedily. Batman waited until he decided it was enough before reaching down and pulling her off the now unconscious woman.

"Easy, Shayera," he murmured. "Don't drink too much, you've only just awakened."

Not taking kindly to being taken away from her meal, Shayera struck him and snarled savagely. Batman responded in kind, pushing her up against a wall where they growled at each other. There was a quick mental struggle, then Shayera submitted, tipping her head to expose her throat to him. A little smile played across Batman's lips and, with a soft growl, he sank his fangs into her smooth, creamy neck.

The intoxicating euphoria of feeding from a mate filled him, and led to a couple of hours of strengthening their new bond. Afterward, with Shayera practically purring in his arms, Bruce contemplated his next move. He went through a mental list of those in, and outside, the League that he would take, and those who he would kill. A half purr, half growl escaped from Shayera, drawing his attention to her. She was responding to his thoughts of death. One in particular.

"Let me have her blood, my love," she breathed and Bruce laughed softly.

Shayera and the Princess had often butted heads, so it was no surprise that the Change would trigger a lust of the Amazon's blood.

"Of course," he consented. "When the time comes, she's all yours.

Shayera smiled, her tongue flicking out and lightly licking his lips. "I'm hungry," she whispered. "I want to hunt."

His own hunger started to make itself known at her words, the thought of a good hunt highly appealing. "Then let us hunt," he whispered back.

Let the fun begin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

2 Days later:

Something was wrong. John Stewart knew it...could feel it in his bones. Batman's possession followed by J'Onn's mysterious illness and now...well, he wasn't sure that whatever was up with Shayera was related, but there was definitely something off. Everything about her was screaming seduction and predator, and there was a look in her eyes that he didn't like. Something very...unsettling.

_'Or maybe you're just paranoid cause of everything that's been going on lately,'_ a little voice whispered in his mind. _'You sure you're not just imagining things out of concern for an ex girlfriend you still haven't gotten over? And probably never will?'_

Surprised by the mental question, and not willing to examine it further, he silenced the voice and decided to pull Shayera aside when the meeting was over. Just one friend asking another if everything was okay.

_'Friend,'_ the voice snickered. _'Right...'_

John growled mentally, and the voice laughed again but drifted away nevertheless. When at last the meeting was over, he moved quickly to her side and put a light hand on her shoulder. "Hey...talk to you a minute?"

She looked up at him and nodded, for some reason glancing at Batman before following John into a private corner of the room. "What is it?"

John hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you okay? You seem....I don't know...different."

She cocked her head, a smile playing on her lips. One that sent shivers up and down his back, though he wasn't sure if they were the pleasant kind of shivers or not. "Different? How so?"

He lowered his eyes as he tried to figure out what to say. "You seem...I don't know...."

She laughed softly and put a hand on his cheek. When he raised his eyes to hers, he found them bright and full of light and life. "I'm fine, John. Really." She smiled. "Maybe you should get some rest, though. You look tired. Not that I can blame you with all the weirdness going on lately."

He stared into her eyes, feeling compelled to agree with her. "Yeah. Guess I am pretty tired."

She kissed his cheek, then patted it. "Get some rest," she murmured, then turned and walked away. He watched her leave, jumping when a voice said, "John. A word?"

Turning, he found Batman next to him. He blinked a few times, shaking his head to clear it, then said, "Yeah, what's up?"

"I've been working on a new defense mechanism and I need you and your ring to test it."

John looked at him curiously. "Why me? Why not Superman or Diana?"

"Because, for the moment, I need someone with your particular talents. Can you meet me in a few hours?"

John's mind began to grow fuzzy again, and he shook his head to clear it before saying, "Yeah, sure. Where?"

Batman gave him a location, then turned and swept out of the room. John began to follow, but was stopped by Superman. "May I ask what you and Batman were talking about, John?"

"He wants me to help him test some new defense thing of his," John replied, then frowned. "Why?"

Superman shook his head, a worried look slipping quickly through his eyes. "Just a feeling, I guess," he murmured, his gaze moving to the door that Batman had slipped out of. "I can't help feeling that J'Onn being in the state he's in is connected to Batman. I'm not entirely sure Bruce is actually out of the woods yet." He was silent for a long moment, gaze fixed on the doorway. Finally, he turned his gaze back to John and said, "Think you could do me a favor?"

********

Batman watched Green Lantern enter the park, a cold smile crossing his lips. Fools. He knew exactly what they were up to. They had worked together for how long, and yet they still didn't know who they were dealing with. The Boy Scout should definitely know better. He'd take great pleasure in killing the so called Man of Steel just as he would with the other nosy alien. But not now. Now was not the time, not until he had Green Lantern, and many others, in his possession. He stepped out into the open, exchanged greetings, then led John through exactly what he said was going to happen. Just for fun, he made things a little rough before eventually calling a halt and declaring the test a success.

"Thank you, John," he said, shaking the other man's hand. "Appreciate the help."

"Anytime," John replied, a little breathless from the workout.

Batman squeezed the other's shoulder and said, "I need to get the results back to my lab. Thank you again." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and vanished into the shadows. He swiftly climbed a tree and sat, watching John carefully. As he knew would happen, a few minutes later, he was joined by Flash, Shayera and Diana. Superman must have had something else to do....

"Looks like Superman was wrong," Shayera said with a glance at Flash. "He didn't do anything more than he said he was going to do."

"Maybe he really is normal," Diana agreed.

"Yeah, maybe," John replied, gazing out into the darkness Batman had disappeared into. He felt as though they were being watched. Forcing himself to turn away, he said, "Let's get out of here. Let Superman know what happened. Or didn't happen."

A malicious little grin passed Batman's lips as he watched the group head out of the park. His mind reached out and gently caressed Shayera's, before he truly vanished into the night.

John groaned as an insistent beeping filled his ears, invading his admittedly restless sleep. Turning over, he grabbed his communicator. "This had better be good," he mumbled.

"John!" came Shayera's voice, filled with urgency. "Something's up! We need you!"

Hearing the tone in her voice, John sat up, quickly coming out of his sleep induced fuzziness. "What is it?"

"Flash and I are in a bit of a jam. We're having trouble reaching the Tower for back up, but hopefully, by the time you get here, we'll have finally gotten through. I'm transmitting coordinates. Hurry!"

The coordinates came through the second she stopped communicating, and John immediately powered up and rushed out his apartment via his bedroom window. He flew as fast as he could to the area Shayera had given him, wondering what was going on.

Nearly half an hour later, he landed in a very dark, secluded area, bare of any trees and filled with rocks. "Shayera? Flash?" he called out, looking around cautiously, wary of a trap.

"GL! Over here!" He turned and saw Flash, sitting on a bolder and looking a little worse for wear. "What happened?" he demanded when he reached the speedster. "Where's Shayera?"

"Right here." Too late did he realize something was very wrong as he turned around. His command for a shield was too slow as pain exploded in his head, and then all was black.

Shayera stood over John's still body, a chilling smile on her lips and bloodlust in her eyes, made only worse by the trickle of the life source that ran down the side of John's head.

"Quick and easy. The way to go," Flash said as he knelt next to John and felt for his pulse. He then slung the unconscious man over his shoulder and looked at Shayera. "Meet you there?" he asked, seeking permission to take their catch back to the master.

Shayera nodded and Flash sped away. 'We've got him my love,' she thought. 'Flash is bringing him to you. I'll be there soon.' She closed her eyes as she felt his mind caress hers, then took to the air to head back to him.

He knew this feeling. The grogginess... the feeling of having been on the wrong side of a stampede. It didn't take much to realize he was coming out of unconsciousness. Which meant he'd been in a fight but couldn't quite remember the circumstances. Maybe when he got more of his senses back he'd remember. Gathering his strength, he concentrated and slowly came back to full consciousness. Oh hell. "Think I was better off unconscious," he muttered as feelings of nausea overtook him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing his stomach to settle down before opening his eyes again to try and see where he was. A dark place. A cave it looked like, and he was laying on a table, tied down so securely it exceeded perfection. Didn't matter, though, his ring would be able to....his ring! "Where is it?" he said out loud, a frantic note in his voice.

"Don't worry, it's safe."

John turned his head and his eyes widened. "Flash! What the hell is going on? Cut me loose!"

"Sorry G.L. no can do," Flash replied, coming further into the dim lighting. "The Master would have my head. Literally."

"The Master? Flash what the hell is going on? Where are we?"

"The Master's cave of course," Flash replied, a 'duh' note in his voice. "As to what's going on, well, you're about to get something very special. You see, a new era is about to start. The world is going to change....become better. The Master is taking control and you and I are going to be his right hand men." He grinned. "You'll love it G.L."

"I doubt that. Who the hell is this...." John trailed off, realization hitting him. Oh no. Soft, chilling laughter filled the cave. Flash immediately backed away, lowering his head as John strained to find the source of the laughter.

"Finally clued in did you?" Batman said softly as he melted out of the darkness and into the light. Shayera appeared next to him, eyes filled with dark coldness. He glared at her in annoyance, suddenly remembering how he had ended up in this predicament.

"This is the second time you've managed to sucker punch me...." He trailed off. He wanted to say more, but it could wait. Shayera didn't really look like she was in complete control anyway. His gaze flickered back to Batman.

"Bruce...listen to me. You need help. You're sick. Let me loose and we'll go back to the tower and see J'Onn. He can help." He knew the words were useless even as he was talking, but he had to at least say it.

A low laugh escaped Batman's lips. "The Martian can't even help himself right now. I was careful to make sure of that." He paused, a scary little grin touching his lips. "So now that the useless pleading is out of the way...." He moved up next to John and bared his teeth, showing the fangs that were sliding down.

John's eyes widened again. Holy....! 'J'Onn! J'Onn can you hear me?' he shouted in his mind, forgetting that his telepathic friend couldn't hear *anybody* at that point. A clear sign of panic on his part, something that he would berate himself for later.

Batman laughed again. 'He can't hear you, remember?' he said silently, his voice echoing in John's mind. 'That's what he gets for poking his nose in where it doesn't belong.' A growl escaped from the Dark Knight and then he struck. John tried to struggle, but Batman easily held him still. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, but it only lasted a few seconds before everything was once again replaced with a cold nothingness.

*******

His next conscious awarement was desire. As he clawed his way back to the land of the living, the desire to do anything for the Dark Knight...the Master, was overwhelming. There was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do in the service of the Batman. Even kill.

His second awarement was the realization that he had been reunited with his ring. Good. With his ring, he could serve the Master even better. He slowly opened his eyes, found he was still on the table but no longer restrained. He sat up, turned and came face to face with Flash.

"Hey," Flash greeted, "How ya feeling?"

"Incredible," John replied. It felt as if he had entered a whole new world, fresh and exciting and just waiting for him to help mold it into something amazing. "Where's the Master?"

"He and the Mistress are sleeping. Sun's up. Course, we're in a cave, so the Master doesn't really *need* to be sleeping right now, but he needs his rest. He's leaving at nightfall on a little…errand. Probably be gone a couple days."

John frowned in confusion. "Then why are *we* awake?"

Flash smiled and put an affectionate hand on John's shoulder. "You and I aren't like them. We're still human and we're going to stay that way. Only those the Master chooses become like him. You and I are agents. We need to be free to move in the day light if he needs us to." A cold grin crossed his lips. "Course, just cause we're human doesn't mean we're mortal. We're going to stay by his side for all eternity. And God help anyone who gets in the way."

John smiled back, glowing as he made a fist and his ring powered up. "I know exactly who you mean." Now that his priorities, and loyalties, had been set straight, he felt a deep hatred for certain former friends. "This is gonna be fun."

*******

"Seriously, Dick! Call me! I'm really worried." Tim Drake sighed as he hung up his cell phone and flopped back down on his bed, staring out the large, double paned windows at the bright moon in the clear night sky.

That had been about his millionth phone call to Dick Grayson since he and Alfred had arrived at the house of some cousins of Alfred's over a month ago. While England was a great country to visit, Tim hadn't been able to truly enjoy himself. They'd been in regular contact with the League, and were aware of Batman's disappearance and then reappearance. Despite both his and Alfred's desire to return to Bruce's side, they'd been warned to stay away a while longer, as there was some doubt as to whether it was actually safe back home, what with J'Onn suddenly taking ill so mysteriously and quickly after Bruce's return.

Tim had protested vigorously, but Alfred had overruled him, stating that if the League felt it was dangerous, then they must have their reasons for thinking so. Tim had laid off him after catching the deep worry in the elderly gentleman's eyes. Not wanting to stress his current guardian out anymore than he already was, Tim had turned his attention to Dick, wondering if his elder 'brother' was aware of what had been going on. If he was aware, he sure was making it difficult to contact him. Even Barbara Gordon had been unable to reach him with her special Oracle touch. It made Tim paranoid that something had happened to Dick as well, which was part of the reason for the constant calls.

Sighing, he rolled over, gaze falling on the digital clock, and was surprised to discover it was nearly three in the morning. "And I'm wide awake," he muttered. "Wish Alfred had let me bring my uniform. We may be in a different country, but I bet the slime buckets are the same. Just with fruity accents."

An image of the Joker, or even Killer Croc, entered his mind, speaking in British accents and sounding anything but threatening. He snickered, then sighed and pushed himself up as the brief amusement vanished. Getting down on the floor, he started a round of push-ups. Maybe a little exercise would distract his mind and help him sleep.

Three hundred push-ups later, he changed positions to start curl-ups. He only got through ten before the quietest of noises caught his attention. He paused, eyes scanning the room. "Hello?" he called out. "Alfred? That you?" Silence met his question and, shrugging, Tim returned to his curl-ups.

After another twenty, he paused again as yet another noise reached his ears. Going on alert now as his training kicked in, Tim stood, carefully scanning the room for the source. "Hello?" he called again. "Alfred? Franklyn? Julia? Who's here?" Again, silence met his question, but he wasn't fooled. He'd been in the Bat clan too long not to know when something was off.

Standing perfectly still, he closed his eyes and listened carefully, searching for any noises that didn't belong. Less than a minute later, the softest of sounds reached his ears. Spinning around to face the balcony, he dropped into a defensive stance, ready to defend himself. And blinked in surprise at who he found standing there. "Batman?"

From the balcony, one of the two men he'd been obsessively worried for, and had almost desperately been wanting to see, practically glided into the room. Tim watched him, a big smile of relief spreading across his lips despite the unnoticed step he took back.

Batman stopped, looked at him for a few seconds, then whispered, "Hello, Tim."


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 9**

One of the Question's many gifts was a keen sense of observation. It was something that, as a detective, he prided himself on. After all, what good would he be at solving mysteries if he couldn't pay attention for more than two minutes?

Ever since the Bat had returned from his little cross country walkabout, the Question's sense of observation had been working overtime. Most of the League were under the impression that J'Onn had worked his mental mojo and had cleared out what it was that had been affecting Batman.

*Most* was the key word there. Through simple observation, the Question had easily determined that some members of the original seven weren't so sure that the Bat was peachy keen. Superman in particular looked deeply worried. Granted, it *could* have been directed at J'Onn, but Question was fairly certain that most of it was due to Batman. He had also noticed the lovely Wonder Woman wandering the Tower with a constant look of concern in her eyes.

He hadn't seen J'Onn in days, so he wasn't sure how the Martian felt. He had locked himself in his room and would only see a few select people, an act that Question certainly couldn't blame him for. It had to be rough having your abilities turned against you.

It was the Flash, however, that really caught Question's attention. He seemed to be completely normal, zipping all over the place and carrying on like he hadn't a care in the world. The Question found something very wrong with that picture. While the Flash tended to try and keep everyone in good spirits when things were bad, he *certainly* never pretended as though nothing was happening at all. Even when acting all bright and goofy, one could still easily sense the worry and tension hovering just below the surface. If one was paying attention, anyway.

However, there was absolutely no tension or worry hanging around the fastest man alive, a fact that perplexed the faceless detective. For as long as he had known the playful hero, the kid had *never* been able to really hide his feelings.

So, what was going on? Were they under a secret attack? First the Bat, then the Martian, now Flash? If it *was* an attack, it seemed like a pretty bizarre one. Or maybe a brilliant one. Who would be next? Superman? Wonder Woman? Any one of the dozens and dozens of heroes who held membership in the League? And who was responsible? The government held the place of honor on his suspect list, with aliens a close second. If it wasn't one, it was the other. That's the way it always was.

The answer to the question of who was next came when he was inconspicuously observing Shayera. There was something different about the former Thanagarian warrior. It was in her eyes, and the way she moved. In the way she looked at their comrades and the civilian personnel with a decidedly predatory demeanor. Maybe it was that time of the month that was causing her to look at people like they were talking meals. Maybe it would pass in a few days. Or maybe she needed to be watched. Carefully.

*Very* carefully.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do other than watch and see if anybody else started behaving strangely. Of course, he *still* wouldn't be sure what to do if looked like whatever was going on was affecting more and more people. And he *especially* wouldn't know who he could trust if this…thing was moving as fast as he suspected it might be. If this was, indeed, yet another invasion, then they could all be in serious, 'holy crap!' trouble.

It was a few days after he had noticed the change in Shayera that his worries grew. Something was off with Green Lantern. Granted, the man wasn't all warm and fuzzy hugs and kiss but, again, Question could see something different in the eyes and body language. It wasn't quite as….dramatic as Shayera's, but it was definitely there. Honestly! How nobody else could see these changes was beyond him. They were as plain as day. To the trained observer anyway.

He seriously considered speaking to Superman about his concerns, but his paranoid mind let loose with thoughts that, perhaps, Superman was being affected as well. It gave him pause and set off a little war between his paranoid side and his rational side. The rational part of him argued that Superman hadn't been displaying anything other than worry, to which his paranoia shot back that perhaps the Man of Steel was using worry to mask anything that might have happened to him. *That* argument had shut his rational side up and, in the end, he decided to sleep on it. And maybe observe a little more before attempting to seek allies.

That decision was quickly changed when he saw the alarming news report that night. People were turning up in hospitals in various cities, seriously lacking in blood. Of the twelve reported cases so far, four of the victims had not survived. Fearful of what that could mean, especially with the odd behavior he'd been observing on the Tower, the Question decided to throw caution to the wind and speak with Superman.

Hoping the man was up there, Question headed up to the Tower and quickly managed to track him down. Agreeing to a word in private, the pair went into a conference room where Question, very much aware of the risk he was taking, told Superman all about his observations and fears. Superman listened attentively and, when Question finished speaking, sighed wearily.

"Nothing has felt right since Batman first got 'sick.' I'm certain J'Onn's illness is connected to him, but I hadn't actually noticed anything different about the others." He frowned and shook his head. "This can't be the same thing. J'Onn destroyed whatever was inside Batman. With how extreme this thing was, I'm sure we would have noticed if it had jumped bodies or something. Whatever's going on with the others…*if* something is going on….it has to be something else." He sighed again. "Something we *really* don't need right now."

"So, what about the reports of the people who have been hospitalized with severe blood loss?"

Superman was silent for a long moment, starting into space with troubled eyes as he contemplated the question. Finally, he activated his comm. Unit and said, "Diana? Are you on the Tower?"

There was a few seconds of silence, and then Diana came on the line. "Yes, Kal, what is it?"

"Could you come to conference room C, please? Got something to talk about."

"Certainly. Be there in a few minutes."

The two men sat in silence as they waited for the Amazon to arrive. When she got there, she paused in the doorway, obviously surprised to see the Question there, before moving inside and allowing the door to slide silently shut behind her. Superman motioned for her to sit, then told her everything that Question had told him. When he finished, she looked shocked, then thoughtful as she tried to decided if there was any truth in the Question's thoughts.

"Regardless of whether or not something is wrong with the others, I think it might be a good idea to test Batman's blood," Superman finally said. "See if his 'house guest' has turned up again."

"Do you think he'd willing submit?" Diana asked, a doubtful look in her eyes.

"He will if we lie and tell him the entire League is being tested for a suspected pathogen," Superman replied.

Diana raised an eyebrow, exchanging glanced with Question. Superman held up a hand to stop any comments and said, "We don't have time to dance around and argue with him. Not if he's hurting people."

"What about the others?" Diana asked, nodding in agreement.

"We'll test them, too, just in case. Otherwise…." His gaze moved to Question. "Keep watching. Let us know if anybody else starts acting strangely."

Question nodded, feeling a little better now that he had two allies on his side. He just hoped that *they* didn't start acting differently, too.

*****

It was late when the Question finally returned to his little apartment and collapsed in his easy chair, exhausted. "Man, I really need a vacation," he muttered. It really wasn't easy being him, but *somebody* had to pay attention to when the heroes of the world started wandering off the hero trail.

He sighed tiredly as he rubbed his featureless face, thinking of heading to bed for a much needed 'sleep of the dead.' There was just one problem with that plan, however….it meant getting up. Why get up and go to a nice, warm bed when the easy chair was…well, easy? Yeah, he'd just stay right where he was and having a nice, long rest….

Unfortunately, someone had other plans as his door was suddenly blown apart, sending flying backwards over his chair and onto the floor. "What the hell….!" He exclaimed, now wide awake as he looked up from the floor. His hidden eyes widened in alarm as he saw a very unfriendly looking John Stewart standing in the remains of the doorway, glowing brightly from his ring's energy.

'_Oh shit.' _He was no fool…he knew what was up. Instead of sticking around to try and talk himself out of the trouble he had gotten himself into, Question scrambled to his feet and turned to run, planning on making a quick, and probably painful escape through the window. That plan died a quick death when he found Flash standing behind him, a chilly little grin on his lips. "Knock, knock…."

A coil of green energy wasted no time in wrapping itself tightly around him, holding him completely immobile. He attempted to struggled anyway as he was slowly turned around, freezing when he saw Shayera moving gracefully into the apartment, predatory eyes locked on him, a little smirk on her red lips. Once again, shit.

"Hello, Question," she purred as she stopped before him. "We need to have a little chat."

"You couldn't have asked without blowing my door apart?" Question asked flippantly. "A simple phone call would have worked, you know."

Pain erupted in his ribs, courtesy of Flash. "Show respect for the Mistress!" came an uncharacteristic growl from the speedster.

Question coughed and gasped for air, wishing he had thought to hit the panic button on his comm. Unit. Nothing like having a few dozen League members descend on you when you were in real trouble…

As he wondered how he was going to get out of his current predicament, Shayera lightly stroked his cheek before grabbing him roughly by the chin and hissing, "That was a really stupid thing talking to Superman like that. You should have mind your business."

"Yeah…I seem to have a real problem with that," Question wheezed. "Been thinking of attending counseling. Know any groups?"

Shayera smiled, and Question's hidden eyes widened in alarm at the pair of razor sharp fangs he saw before she yanked him closer to her.

She gently nuzzled his face with her before softly breathing, "I'm going to kill you, Q. I'm going to drain every last drop of exquisite blood from your body. Then G.L. is going to take your empty shell and drop it in the middle of the ocean for all the little fishies to finish off. No one will ever know what happened to you, and no one will care. Because the only ones who might will soon be dead as well."

Question snorted, his natural defiance in the face of danger rising up. "Do what you want little bird. You don't scare me."

'_Yeah right,' _laughed his inner voice. _'You're freaking *terrified* right now.' _

Apparently, his brave façade amused Shayera as well. With a soft, almost musical laugh, she nuzzled his face again and whispered, "Oh, but I do, Q. I can *smell* your fear, and it smells *so* good." A little growl escaped her lips and Question winced as she grabbed his hair and roughly yanked his head to the side, exposing his neck. Sharp pain lanced through him a second later as her fangs easily broke his skin, sinking deep into his neck like it was nothing more than soft butter.

He'd always known he'd go out the victim of some conspiracy. He just hadn't known if it would be the government or some weird race of aliens. He had never considered the paranormal. Silly him. Well…maybe he could take advantage of dying. _'Maybe I can haunt the government,' _was the last, delirious thought to go through his mind before the bone chilling cold took over and everything ceased to be.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Part 10**

He was in the deepest state of meditation that he could possibly achieve without going into a hibernation cycle. He had no idea how long it had been since he had been in this state, as he had no awareness of anything outside his mental realm. It was necessary in order to hunt the beast that had invaded him.

It had taken J'Onn a while to figure out what was behind his mysterious 'illness.' He had spotted the shadow accidentally on a previous mediation, and had recognized the intruder for what it was almost immediately, the sneaky little bastard. It must have happened when Bruce's personality manifestations had ushered him so quickly from Bruce's mind. It caused him deep worry for Bruce and whether or not the man's mind was truly free of the demon that had infested it.

One problem at a time, though. He couldn't do anything for his friend until he had purged himself of his own infestation. Assuming he could find the thing. It was proving to be extremely elusive, and J'Onn couldn't help wondering why. Perhaps it found amusement in playing cat and mouse. Or maybe it had made itself so much at home that it didn't want to risk a fight. Well, it was going to get one whether it wanted it or not. If he could just find it….

Hours passed and then…there! They saw each other at the same time. It looked similar to the one he had fought in Bruce, only this one was smaller and paler than the other. He didn't have time to wonder why that was, as the creature hissed and took off running. Muttering an oat in his own language, J'Onn took off in pursuit. Hide and seek was over. This beat's hours were numbered.

He felt different. Not just groggy and confused or any other side effect that came from being unconscious. He felt….free. Free of his selfish beliefs and fears. Everything made sense now. He felt complete devotion for what he had to do. For who had had to serve…

"My Lord…he's waking up," a familiar voice said from somewhere close by. "At least…I think he is. Kinda hard to tell with him."

He heard a faint sound, then a hand was pressed lightly to his forehead. A few seconds later, another familiar voice breathed softly in his ear, "Time to wake up. There's work to do. Wake up. Now."

He knew an order when he heard it, though it still took him a moment to pry his eyes open. As his vision swam into focus, memory came flooding back to him, and he sat bolt upright, startled and ignoring the dizziness the sudden movement caused.

"I'm…"

"Alive," Batman confirmed. "Yes. I sensed what my beautiful Queen was about to do to you and stopped her just in time. You're more useful to me alive than dead."

The deepest gratitude filled The Question, and he bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you, my Lord," he murmured. "You won't regret sparing me."

"I'd better not," Batman responded, the barest hint of threat in his voice. "If I do, I'll let her finish what she started. And this time, it won't be quick."

Question nodded shortly. "Understood. What do you wish me to do?"

"You can start with damage control for the situation you started with Superman and Diana," Batman replied, a touch of irritation in his voice. "I'll take their little blood test. We all will. Since you are the ring leader of this little operation, you will insist on taking the samples yourself to your contact at STAR Labs. On the way, you'll replace certain samples with different ones. They will learn that nothing is out of the ordinary."

He paused, then added, "It was very fortuitous that Flash was listening in on your conversation. I am not ready for the truth to be revealed yet."

Question nodded, feeling shame for his actions. "Yes, my Lord. Again, you won't regret sparing me."

Before Batman could reply, a very distinguished looking elderly man appeared from out of nowhere. Cold, calculating eyes settled on Question as he whispered softly in Batman's ear.

Batman nodded and said, "Fix our new arrival something to eat, would you? I want him at full strength."

The other man nodded shortly. "At once, sir."

As the man turned and disappeared into the darkness, Batman glanced somewhere behind Question, then turned and disappeared as well without a word. A second later, a hand came to rest on Question's shoulder, and he looked up find Flash next to him. "Lay down, bro," the speedster said, gently pushing him down. "As the Master said, there's work to do, and we need you at full strength."

As Question lay down, an overwhelming sense of joy filled him. He'd been given a second chance at a place in the new world, and he was going to work hard to keep that place. At any cost.

Poison Ivy had escaped Arkham a mere two days earlier, and Batman had wasted no time in tracking her down. He had a message that needed to be delivered, and she would do nicely as the messenger.

Currently, he was hidden deep in the shadows of her newest hideout, watching as she mixed chemicals together for whatever her latest scheme was. Unlike the usual routine, this time her plans weren't going to get anywhere close to completion. He needed her to do something for him, not mess around with her little plants.

Taking out a couple of Batarangs, he sent them flying, effectively destroying her hard work. As a cry of surprise escaped her lips, he fired a line at her, watching it wrap itself tightly around her body, immobilizing her. He gave a sharp tug on his end, smirking as, with another cry of surprise, Ivy crashed to the floor hard.

"Well, that was fast," she panted, looking up as he dropped down from his hiding place and approached her. "You really didn't need to be so rough, though," she added with a glare.

Another smirk crossed his lips as he stopped and looked down at her. "Probably not," he agreed. "But I enjoyed it just the same."

Ivy raised a delicate eyebrow. "You want to play, do you? Let me loose and I'll gladly play."

For a brief moment, it actually looked like he was considering it, something that both surprised and intrigued her. She studied him for a moment before saying, "You know, there's a rumor going around Arkham that you're…different."

Batman tipped his head ever so slightly. "Oh?" he asked, the barest trace of amusement in his voice. "How?"

She shrugged as best she could and said, "Don't really know, but that stupid psycho clown has been absolutely insistent these last few months that you're changing, and that whatever it is that's come over you, you're his ticket out. It's why he hasn't pulled one of his infamous escape attempts."

She gave him another critical look, then added, "I just figured he was being his usual deluded self considering how ridiculous the claim is. But, now that I see you…there *is* something different. Something…darker."

The softest of laughs escaped Batman's lips. "You have no idea," he murmured as he reached down, pulled her to her feet, and proceeded to slam her up against a wall.

"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily. "Take it easy! That's no way to treat a lady!"

"What lady?" he sneered. "The only thing I see is slave who is going to deliver a message for me."

Ivy's green eyes flashed dangerously. "How *dare* y…" She trailed off, eyes widening as her gaze was drawn to his mouth, where a pair of razor sharp fangs were making an appearance. "What the…."

Another soft, amused laugh escaped him. "Feel free to scream," she breathed as he closed in on her neck. "So much more fun that way."

The only ones who heard her screams were those who didn't care.

Oswald Cobblepot, better known as the Penguin, looked up from the book he had been reading, and watched as Pamela Isley was escorted into the common room. A little smile crossed his lips as he called out, "Welcome back, my dear Pam! My, but that was fast. He certainly didn't waste any time, did he?"

Ivy's colder than normal eyes moved to him, but she said nothing as he gaze quickly moved to someone else who seemed to interest her. The Joker sat just a few feet away from the Penguin, attention riveted to the television. He watched curiously as Ivy moved directly toward the Clown Prince of Crime, and stopped right in front of him, blocking his view of the T.V.

"Hey!" Joker growled in annoyance, glaring up at the red head. "Move it before I make you see through!"

Unaffected by the threat, Ivy said, "I have a message for you, Joker. From the outside."

The annoyance instantly vanished, replaced by eager excitement. It was like Joker had become a child who was about to be told a secret he'd been dying to know.

"Oh? Well, why didn't you say so? Do tell, my lovely Angel."

Leaning in, Ivy said softly, but still loud enough for Penguin to hear, "He thanks you for your assistance in freeing him, and wishes you to know that you will be receiving your eternal reward *very* soon."

Without another word, she straightened up and moved away, heading for the door, leaving a very delighted looking Joker behind her. Penguin watched her for a few seconds, then turned his attention back to the Joker. "What did she mean by that?" he asked.

Joker turned a sickly grin on Penguin and said, "What I've been saying for months is about to come true, Penguin my boy! The Bat finally managed to pull that stick out of his butt and life is about to become a whole lot more fun!"

As he broke out into hysterical laughter, Ivy paused in the doorway and looked back, a little smirk on her lips and a hint of fire in her eyes. "Fool," she breathed. "I only hope he lets me watch when he gives you your reward."

Turning, she disappeared through the door and headed back to her cell. It wouldn't be long now, and she wanted to be rested.


End file.
